Blooming In Adversity
by Lian-hua
Summary: The Huns are still in China, Mulan gets called to the battlefied, her life is on the line, as well as the safety of the Empire, and she's trapped alone with her buff Captain. Whatever will they do! And they said Kraft was the cheesiest :)
1. Default Chapter Title

#  _Blooming In Adversity_

Part I: Chapters 1-7

Legal Disclaimer: Shang, the Disney Mulan, Chi fu, the Gang of Three, Mushu, Shan-Yu, General Li, Fa Zhou, Fa Li, Khan, the Emperor, the Matchmaker, or anyone else in the Disney film that I forgot to mention belongs to Disney. Had I made these characters up your parents would never have let you watch the film :p This is for non-commercial entertainment use only, don't get your coperate panties in a bunch. The original content is copyright © 2000 Qian-Lei (aka Lian Hua) and may not be borrowed from, plagiarized *cough cough*, or reproduced without my expressed written permission. Name/event changes will be made happily if Disney gets upset about this.

Content Disclaimer: This story is rated PG-13 by the author. If you're under 13, or reading about sexual themes is illegal in your state, than you're not supposed to read it, or read it with your parents. I dare you. No, this isn't pornography, I just have to warn you.

Cultural Accuracy Disclaimer: If you want something more mature and accurate, try reading The Way, that's been researched and so on to the best of my ability. This centers around the fantasy events of the film and doesn't pretend to be accurate so please don't send me hate mail :) Thanks Doraemon for answer my hundreds of questions.

Sentimental Disclaimer: This is the first peice of fan fiction I've ever attempted in my life, thanks to everyone who sent me charming e-mails and the like :)

Chapter One   


The cloud of dust kicked up by the horse's hooves made Mulan's three companions sneeze, then growl in uniformed irritation that they had to travel by foot in the heat, while the princess, as they had jokingly referred to her by now, got to ride in the saddle. It was not her fault, Mulan grew tired of telling them, she would gladly trade her place for a chance to stretch her legs. The only problem was that Khan would not allow anyone but her on his back.   
Taking his drink from his water bladder, Mulan's thinnest companion waved the bottle elaborately to "accidentally" sprinkle a few drops at the lone female rider. "Oops, sorry Ping" he cooed with an overly toothsome smile, spreading his free hand in a flourishing apology.   
Mulan just grinned and waited for him to turn his head around. Then she kicked him in the side with her shoe. Her other two companions, the stout Yao and the corpulent giant Chien Po burst out laughing. Ling's face grew taut with annoyance, and he squarely punched Yao in the stomach.   
"I'd think you'd be used to such treatment from the girls by now, Ling," the gravely voiced young man said, feigning innocence.   
Before Ling could deal him a second blow, Chien Po stepped between the two.   
Mulan only laughed, happy to be with her friends again. To her they were like the brothers she was glad she never had, and they were the only three who could get away with teasing her about her unconventional role as a female soldier. Really, their company was the only pleasant aspect of the task ahead of her. She scanned the countryside around her, hilly and green surrounded by the jagged backdrop of misty gray mountains and sparsely clouded spring sky. The late afternoon sun burned with a particular wrath today, as if the latest call to arms had incited a rage to fill the sky. If they were lucky, the small party would reach their destination by nightfall. Mulan thought she would rather ride in a month in the heat than face the army again.   
It had been flattering that the Emperor had implored her to take up the sword again, her friends had been sent to fetch her and tell her the despairing news. There were Huns still in the region, led by the warlord Shan-Yu's under officers who had escaped the Palace in secret the night of their leader's demise, and if this victory was not secured the last one would be meaningless. Mulan sighed, she wanted very much to be with her friends, but she did not want to see war again.   
"Mulan," Chien-Po's soft voice pulled her back from her thoughts. "Do you think our new commander will be as tough as Shang."   
Yao shook his head, laughing his distinctive chuckle. "No one is as tough as Shang. How many people do you see rip arrows out of their arm then stand up to fight?"   
The memory made her cringe. One of few memories of him that had that affect.   
Maybe they knew her too well, and knew her thoughts had drifted to Shang that very moment before Chien-Po spoke. They did not know the whole truth though. If they did, she would never live it down. Shang was a puzzle.   
The confusion had started late one afternoon nearly a week ago when she had drawn back from her father's welcoming embrace to find her commanding officer, Captain Li Shang, speaking formally to Fa Zhou and then, upon seeing her, had his confidence shattered only to be replaced by a loss of words. He claimed the reason for his sudden visit was to return her helmet - or her father's helmet - but had favored her with the most glorious smile while accepting her invitation to dine with her family.   
Shang had presented himself as polite and well spoken during the meal--which consisted of rice and fish that had became known as Fa Li's specialties among family friends--particularly to her father, whom he seemed to be seeking the approval of. That was understandable, Shang aspired to be as good a leader as his own father - the General who had fallen with his army at the hands of the Hun warlord Shan-Yu - and Mulan's father was a war hero that the young man admired. There was one thing about the serious young officer that had her surprised her though, Shang had a sense of humor. Unfortunately his amusement settled mostly upon relating her misadventures in training, including that dreadful first encounter that had her flushing scarlet at the memory. Her father and grandmother laughed, deeply amused. Fa Li wrung her hands and looked as though she might drop to the floor in prayer at any moment. Shang spoke of her with great pride, declaring her his best warrior without once taking credit that he had a hand in molding the girl soldier beside him, and was openly gracious in telling of the times she had saved him without any sign that he was ashamed a woman had come to his aid. Mulan smiled, the praise on her behalf meant more than even the Emperor's gifts, especially coming from him.   
The only thing was, Shang knew how to speak to her family, but he seemed uncertain of how to speak to her.   
Before he left on his ride back to the Imperial City - he was to take his father's place as General now, after all - Shang had spoken to her father aside in confidence for a moment, then had gently taken her by the arm and told her he had something to say to her. Her Grandmother shot her an encouraging look while her mother gave her a contrary one, silently reminding her that women were to be demure in a man's presence.   
"Mulan," he had begun slowly, "I don't have the words to thank you for what you've done. I won't even try. But you.. " For a moment he had gazed bravely into her eyes, and in his she could not read what she saw, a spark of some kind. He had beautiful eyes, really, when he was not catching you at tricks, or holding a sword above your head. "You amaze me, Fa Mulan." That had made her smile, a bit more eloquent than "you fight good." Then he had taken her hand and held it warmly in both his own. "Goodnight, Ping" That was delivered with a smirk meant to tease, it only left her more confused.   
He had looked at and touched her as was proper for a man to a woman, but had spoken of her as a soldier. Her dilemma lay therein, and not just what Shang thought of her, but what she thought of herself. Was she a warrior or a woman? Her society did not allow her to be both.   
The evening came quickly as the three rode along, sometimes talking and sometimes not. All were grim about their recent assignment. Soon the sun slipped behind the mountains letting the bright blue of the sky fade to cloud the horizon in dusty purple. The trees parted to make space for tents, and practice fields, and massive banners flapping their welcome in the evening breeze. The Wu Zhong Camp was the headquarters of all army affairs in this region, and it was where Mulan and her friends would receive the orders of their new commander, whoever he was.   
Handing Khan's reins to a scrawny recruit, Mulan crossed the paths of the camp to find the officer's tent. Her mind raced with memories of the last time she had been here, of meeting Mushu and Shang and her three friends. Looking back on it, she decided her experience here had been one of the best times of her life. She realized she missed the morning martial arts practice, and Shang's proud smile when "Ping" had managed to knock him to the ground. There would be no proud smile's from him this time. Her heart sank as she walked on, ignoring the young soldiers scurrying about mess duty. She could care less if they saw she was a girl or not, most likely not, given it was dark and her hair and clothes were in the fashion "Ping" had worn.   
A long wooden pole stood at the head of two rows of tents, only this time it had an arrow shot into the top. Taking a closer look at the fresh recruits, she saw they were all bending to pick up grains of rice. That made her sigh, his memory seemed to haunt this place and now it could be months before she saw him again. If she ever saw Shang again. She could still feel his strong hand holding hers, not the warm way he had at her father's house though, but the iron grip when they had clasped hands in the snow. Maybe it was not this place at all, maybe he simply haunted her.   
Forcing her daydreams to the back of her mind, Mulan approached the largest tent decorated with the Imperial dragon seal. She was here to be a soldier not fawn over a man, Mulan reminded herself sternly. When she peeked inside the open tent flaps no one was there. With a scowl Mulan turned on her heels, ready to find a recruit who might know where she could find whomever was the leader here.   
Then a shadow in the distance caught her eye.   


_Chapter Two_   


The veiled shape appearing between the trees revealed itself to be the tall and sturdy figure of a man walking in the direction where Mulan stood. When the grassy path brought him out of the shadows, she noticed the familiar self-assured stride and well muscled form. Loose dark hair fell to his shoulders and it seemed to be damp. Small wonder, since he had come from the lake hidden behind the greenery. Mulan strained for a closer look where she stood, not quite tall enough to see over the high shrubs.   
When the view satisfied her, she closed her eyes. Remembering.   
_It was only the next day after the incident in the water with Yao and the others, early in the morning before they departed for the mountains. The sky was still dark, the earth tinted with scant moonlight and the ground obscured by the feathery shadows of bushes and trees. Mulan had risen before the others, as she had a habit of doing in order to bathe safely. But that morning she had not gone to bathe, she had gone to fetch drinking water for Khan from the lake. Every detail stuck out in her mind as if the scene was being relived before her eyes. She remembered the gentle rustling of the leaves, and the soft whisper of her leather slippers as they padded across the grass. The thin crescent of the moon hung over the lake, seeming to paint it in so vivid a blue it had shone like a jewel before her eyes._   
_ She had not been alone. A few of the more motivated recruits were up at that hour to carry out various tasks that their busy day did not allow time for. But the way she felt, there may as well have been no one else in the world._   
_ Shang had been there. Mulan had glanced in that direction just in time to see him rising from the lake, little beads of water sliding like tiny diamonds from his sun darkened skin. To her he seemed like a finely chiseled statue caught in the rain. Yao had been the first man she had ever seen without clothes, but she had diverted her eyes so hastily the mortifying picture did not stick in her mind. With Shang it was different, she had allowed her eyes to trace every fine detail of his glistening silhouette as if she would sketch a portrait of it._   
_ But what she saw did not compare to how she had felt inside at that moment. The sight of him had sent her heart racing, and her nerves felt nothing but flutters and tingles as she watched. She wanted so much to go to him and confess her secret. Most of all, she wanted him to feel for her what she was feeling for him. Mulan did not understand these new feelings, these thousand emotions that she had never felt anything akin to before._   
_ Then Shang was dressed in his uniform again, the robe left open as usual. She heard him scolding one of the recruits, something about hurrying up or he would give him mess duty for a month. The individual words had not penetrated her mind, she had been too busy soaking up the imperious quality of his voice._   
_ "Ping!" Mulan's eyes flew open, realizing that Shang had ceased threatening the young soldier and was standing over her, his tall shadow blocking the light from the moon. "Are you going to get Khan a drink, or are you going to stand there and pick flowers? Maybe I don't keep you recruits busy enough."_   
_ Her cheeks burned. He had noticed her staring._   
_ "Uh... Captain, I... " She fumbled nervously for an explanation. He loomed very closely, towering over her, his dark eyes fixed on her sternly. She made the mistake of looking up and falling into those eyes, their intensity made her feel as though she were drowning. For a moment she forgot she was a girl in a man's armor, and that there were men around her watching Shang bully the recruit. Mulan lifted her head, and for a moment leaned up to kiss him. Stopping herself quickly, Mulan's eyes fell immediately to studying her shoes. "I was just thinking that I... I want to go home."_   
_ All the men around her burst out laughing, her cheeks flushed even more._   
_ His eyebrows raised and she braced herself for a sharp scolding. But he only sighed, maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she sensed a kind of sympathy in his voice when he spoke. "We all want to go home, Ping." He spoke loud enough for the others to hear, he need not have. "But the only way to do that is to survive. And the only way you'll survive is by following orders. Now," He announced in his accustomed tone of command. "I think you need to wake up." She shuddered when his hands seized her by the shoulders, turning her towards the lake. How could she hide what she felt within?_   
_ The others burst into another round of laughter when he shoved her into the water, clothes and all. Mulan turned from them, humiliated. Shang was strange, she knew it was a rough way of joking with her, and was not angry at him. In fact she glad he had thrown her there, in a place where she could cry and no one would see her._   
"Mulan?" The sound of her name snapped her out of her reverie, Mulan opened her eyes again to meet the owner of that commanding voice. Shang was a man of great presence, and not only physically impoising. He had an aura, a self-possession, that was mesmerizing. She fought hard to keep the crimson from her face as she saw his wet hair and open robe. Hopefully, he had forgotten the incident by now. "You don't know how good it is to have you here. These "men" are idiots." That made Mulan laugh, forgetting her embarrassment, one could not get much more foolish than her.   
"We rode quickly, to make the best time that we could. An order from the Emperor is not be answered with any delay. I did not know you would be in command here," Much to her delight, she thought to herself.   
He sighed. "I am, but not to train recruits this time." She could see in his face that this campaign was not one he was not thrilled with. It was one thing she admired about Shang, that most men went off to war looking for glory. Shang understood that there was none. He had a deep understanding of the world that she would never possess. "Come with me, Mulan."   
It was odd really, he was not the least bit uncomfortable around her now. Maybe he was only uneasy around her in a dress. Now he was speaking to her as he would any friend, a dear friend.   
They continued talking as he led her down another moonlit path where a small group of tents stood more secluded and a little larger than those occupied by the recruits. All of these bore smaller versions of the Imperial seal, and Shang informed her that the one to the nearest right had been prepared for her. He also told her there was something he must tell her immediately. When they entered the tent, a blanket covered bundle lay atop the make shift bed. He lifted it up and pushed it into her arms, after grumbling at the lack of order things had been left in.   
"You are my second in command," he informed her, quite formally.   
Mulan almost dropped her burden. She was shocked. But she recovered in time to inspect what lay in her arms. Peeling away the blanket, she saw that she held almost identical pieces of the officer's uniform Shang had worn. But he was not finished, reaching down beside the bed he pulled out a scabbard that the draping coverlet had concealed, placing it on top of the pile of cloth and armor. Her eyes opened wide with delight, for inside the sheath was a beautiful sword with a finely carved gold hilt. Shang had carried one much like it once. It seemed symbolic somehow, all this time she had carried her father's sword and worn his armor, now that she had brought honor in her own right she could carry her own. It would be her own legacy to pass on.   
Mulan was speechless. "Shang, I..."   
Squaring his shoulders, he resumed the authoritative stance she always associated with him. "The Emperor has made you my lieutenant, Fa Mulan." The smile he gave her was a proud one, one of those smiles she thought she would miss. Then he reached down, and instead of patting her shoulder like he usually did, he stroked the back of her hair for a moment. "Get some sleep and I expect to see you dressed and in my tent first thing after sunrise. " After a slight pause he added a stern "And that's an order."   
Shifting her armload awkwardly, Mulan saluted him as he bid her goodnight. She could not wait to tell her friends in the morning.   
Mulan slept that night without confusion. For now, being a warrior was fine with her.   
  
__ __

Chapter Three

Mulan had no looking glass in which to admire her new outfit, but she knew the fine armor complete with the flourishing red cape was becoming - though, of course, she would master the finesse Shang managed with the thing - and the sword fastened to her side complemented the ensemble nicely. Mulan was willing to admit she had a decent eye for color and pretty clothes.   
The new sun cast a deep orange glow about the camp, though it gave little warmth as Mulan strode under it towards Shang's tent. Today her step was far less dainty than her usual walk, not masculine at all only more confident now. She knew it was only an outfit, but she was amazed at how different and grand she felt not having to live in fear of the daily humiliation only a drill commander could be expected to give. Shang was a merciless taskmaster, but she took none of that to heart. If not for him, her and her friends would have perished a long time ago. He had taught her strength and discipline, while she had taught herself to match his courage.   
The recruits muttered and argued amongst themselves as they began their morning line up, and were paying scant attention as the short new officer passed by. She could not blame them if they wanted to avoid the notice of authority as long as possible. But Mulan did look around the camp for her friends, and laughed when she spotted them in the mess tent. It took a lot of effort not to run and show them her knew look, but Shang demanded the impossible of her. He expected Mulan to be punctual.   
The young General was kneeling before a low table when she came in, his concentration completely fixed on a map of China spread out before him with red and blue markers scattered strategically across the map. Mulan noticed he still wore the red officer's cape, but his armor was more ornate now, and of all things he had a helmet beside him. That almost made her laugh out loud.   
"How is your wound?" Shang asked her suddenly, looking up from the table.   
Her eyebrows raised, wound? It took her a minute to realize her was referring to the one in her side, given to her by Shan Yu the day of the avalanche.   
"I think the medic knew what he was doing. It itches sometimes, but hardly bothers me."   
Shang nodded, "Yes he did tell me that you... " His eyes lowered for a moment, back to the table. He looked almost ashamed. "Well, I am glad you are alright. Have a seat." With his gesture to the cushion across from the table, Mulan sat, glad he had changed the subject. She did not want to talk about what had happened that day either.   
Picking up the pointer, Shang motioned to the portion of the map that represented western China, an angry look on his face. "Of the men Shan-Yu brought with him to the Palace, he was the only one who died. There were five more of them, and all managed to escape before we could find them. We did not know it then, but the army Shan-Yu brought over in the North was only the first wave of the Hun invasion, the rest are coming moving east, through here." He swept the brush through a mountainous area on the map. "The only swift route to the Imperial City from both directions is through the Tung-Shao Pass, you know this, and eventually they have to end up there. We could await them there, but the problem is we do not want to see the destruction they would leave along the way."   
"Shan-Yu was on a suicide mission, to weaken China's defenses." Mulan said softly.   
He shot her an approving look. "Good, but we don't know if it was a suicide mission. He made plans in case of his death, a chain of command after him. That is unusual for barbarian forces, since when a leader dies their armies usually fall apart. Well, as for our defenses... " Shang smiled, glowing with something, was it pride? "Most of our army was unable to march fast enough to meet the Hun invasion. There are thousands of fresh troops, and only half of them newly trained. Here, they will train even more. Mulan, what we saw before was only a battle. This time we are going to see a war."   
A war? And she was second in command? Somehow his words had robbed her new title of its glory.   
Mulan tried to look brave. "Where are Huns now?"   
Shang let out a weary sigh. "We don't know." He studied the map once again in determination, but his eyes were tired. "They could be a hundred places at once, spread out. Our orders are to look for them. The first place we are going to look is the Tung-Shao Pass, since they are traveling south from the border. Be ready to move out in a couple of hours, after we train." Mulan gritted her teeth, she had hoped he would forego that part.   
Biting her lip, Mulan frowned. Shang took the whole affair calmly, but then again courage was a part of Shang, courage and no fear. Sometimes Mulan wondered about him.   
"Are you sure you want me as your lieutenant?" She heard herself say. "I'm a girl, you know? And I'm sure I have dishonored you." His lack of emotion bothered her, he had never said a thing about her being a woman. In fact, Mulan had been shocked to hear him refer to her as a "she" when speaking to her family that night. What did he really think of her?   
Glancing up, Shang rolled the map and pushed it aside, Mulan noticed _The Art of War_ peeking out from under the parchment. Why did he look so indignant all of a sudden? She had only meant to tease. "If I did not know better," he began in a quietly dangerous voice. "I'd think you've been spending too much time with Chi Fu. You are a hero to China, Mulan. And a friend to me. Now be ready to move out in two hours."   
She only rolled her eyes at him as she walked away, hiding her smile.

***

The four men managed the wooden litter easily on their shoulders, two supporting the front while the others took up the rear. Their burden was a heavy one, seven feet tall and dead weight at that, but these men were strong, their bodies had been built for war.   
At least the snow was far behind them now, and the morning sun at their backs. They had traveled all night without sleeping, and on foot. But soon horses would be waiting for them.   
All four of them kept their eyes alert as they effortlessly supported the litter between them. Precious cargo, that. There was a sense of mourning that hung in the air over each of them, as if they stood to watch the funeral rites there and then. Shan-Yu had been a great leader, the Huns true hope of victory against the arrogant Chinese. They boasted of armies, and strength, but really it was a stroke of luck from a slip of a girl who was little more than prankster on a grand scale that had earned their victory. She was a criminal, not a warrior, and a thief without honor that she would steal Shan-Yu's glory with her little tricks and masquerades. Were the Chinese such cowards they had to result to playing dress up to win a war? The courage of their young General was admirable, but what good was one brave man if he led a pack of fools?   
China had not won, they had only picked up the sword that would start the war.   
Bayar frowned over these thoughts as he gazed at the dark shrouded form before him. Shan-Yu had been his mentor and had taught him everything he knew of war, and now the loss of such a teacher had left him bitter and angry. But it was not about vengeance, not for Shan-Yu's death,. There were no innocents on a battle field, Bayar knew that.   
Shan-Yu had left more than the weight of his corpse upon his shoulders, he had left the much heavier burden of command, and a legacy that must not be lost. No, not vengeance, but glory.   
"We will continue this way until we reach our men in Southern China," Bayar said to the other three litter bearers. "They will be waiting for us, while all the Imperial troops will be gathered at the Palace, or hiding in the Tung-Shao Pass." Bayar allowed himself a smile seldom seen on his dark face, the element of surprise was in his favor.

***

"Hey, Ping!" Yao called to Mulan as she exited Shang's tent. The short man's brow raised when he saw her new uniform. "You're not going to make us pick up rice all night, are you?" Ling and Chien Po, who had been busy arguing with a trio of recruits outside the mess tent, came over to see what Yao was on about. The taller one smiled when he saw Mulan, but the adorable pointy eared little man only rubbed his hands together, glancing at Yao mischievously, plotting some way to get his friend in trouble.   
"No," Mulan answered simply. The threat of war had washed away her laughter for the time being. "We won't even be here all night. Shang told me I am his second in command. We will be leaving for the Tung-Shao Pass in two hours."   
Ling's jaw dropped, then for whatever reason, he slapped Yao on the arm. Yao only grunted, making a fist. "He made you a lieutenant?" the scrawny man asked. "We all thought he was going to make you his wife, they way he was... " Surprisingly, it was Chien Po who quieted Ling with a punch in the shoulder.   
Mulan flushed, dreadfully embarrassed. But if she let her friends see how uncomfortable the subject made her they would tease her mercilessly. "I don't think he thinks of me in that way. I don't think any man would anymore. We're friends," she added, mildly.   
The three of them nodded in unison, she could tell they did not believe her.   
"Well there are still plenty of Huns to fight," she continued, changing the subject. "All we have to do is find where they are. That's why we are going to the Pass. Shang says... " She stopped herself, Ling was snickering, while Yao was pretending to wave a fan and swoon onto Chien-Po's shoulder. Men! "I have been told, Chien-Po..." Sometimes the gentle giant was the only one listened. "that their forces are in far greater numbers than we saw before. But the good news is, the rest of our army is on the march to meet them this time."   
That got their attention. The rest of the Chinese soldiers would meet Shang's troops at the Pass, where they could follow the Hun trail and meet them when the came North. It was silly though, almost as if they were goading the Chinese into a battle. But Shang had always said the Huns were arrogant, and that playing on that was the key to defeating them. Mulan was not very good at strategies and theories, but it made sense.   
Physical training was no less grueling that it had been when she first stayed at the camp, but good soldiers practiced their skills every morning. Strength and discipline, Mulan knew the litany by heart, since the words summed up Shang very well. But it was not recruits this time, it was the additional troops that he was torturing this morning. When they had all assembled back in their training clothes, Shang had bade her stand beside him while he faced the group. They were all staring at her, a sea of curious faces examining China's only girl warrior from head to toe. Their scrutiny made her dreadfully uncomfortable.   
"This is Fa Mulan," Shang informed them in that no-nonsense voice he used with his men. "She is my lieutenant. When she gives you an order, you will obey it as my own." There were no threats or conditions attached to that, with Shang none were necessary.   
A low roar of grumbles and complaints washed over the men, each still staring at the girl before them. Mulan realized how she must have looked to them, besides the fact she was a woman. She stood little higher than Shang's shoulder, and compared to him looked about as thin as the staff in his hand. Women had always chided her for being too skinny, and how that would fail her in child bearing. But when she tried to eat more, nothing happened, she could not help it if she was a simply a woman of very small stature. Well so what if she would never bear sons, Mulan retorted to those voices indignantly, what did she want one of those for? And more importantly, what man in China would want a son from her. But her feelings remained unhurt by the attitude of the recruits, priding herself on the fact that they would rather have her than Chi Fu.   
It was after the martial arts practice, the running, the archery and the swordplay, that the men finally admitted some respect for her, since she could beat most of them at these things. And it was after trying so hard to do so that she ran back to her tent. clutching her soldier.   
When she saw Shang walking towards her, Mulan whined. "Call the medic, call the medic..."   
Shang, seeing no sign of serious injury, tolerated her dramatics with a special patience. "What's the matter, Mulan?" The Ancestors help her, he looked amused.   
"I think I pulled something trying to..." She could not remember what she had been trying to do, all she knew was that her back was too stiff to stand up straight. No more trying to out do the men, Mulan scolded.   
"Sit down," The General ushered her inside her tent, which was thankfully neat at the moment. Taking a seat on her low bed, she remained silent while Shang knelt down behind her. Mulan trembled when she felt his strong hands cover her shoulders, gently directing her to sit up straight. Then she felt his fingers kneading in to her skin, had they been anyone else's hands it would have been relaxing. But her pulse quickened with the way he touched her, as if he could read her mind to know where the hurt was. It was utterly sensual, he knew where to apply the pressure to draw the pain out of her, she sighed, a fluttery nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was too fond of his touch by far.   
"Shang," Mulan said quietly, holding a tight control over her emotions. It was so hard to be close to him and not say a thing about how she felt. "I don't think your men like me very much."   
This made him laugh, he paused for a second. "And did you like taking orders, Mulan? Particularly from me?" There was a bit mockery in his voice, just a hint, but enough to make her wonder if perhaps he did know and enjoyed teasing her this way on purpose. No, Shang was not that cruel.   
"You were different," she confessed. Why? Because he was handsome? She almost said that aloud. What would Shang say if she told him Fa Mulan thought him a handsome man? "I felt safe with you." Maybe that was even better, Mulan laughed at herself.   
Did she imagine it, or did his motions feel almost tender? His voice certainly was so. "I think that's how we all felt around you, especially at the Palace."   
Mulan was startled by this. "You said you didn't want me there."   
He sighed heavily, seeming sad, and took his hands away from her to sit beside her on the bed. Mulan looked over to him, studying his face, he looked as though he were struggling with something difficult and painful. He so rarely laughed, Mulan wondered why. "When my father died," Shang began slowly, something painful indeed. "I was not myself for a long time. Well now I am, and you're my second in command, and that is that." He tried to make that sound some kind of order, but the sadness still lingered. She imagined it always would.   
Placing a comforting hand on his arm, Mulan rose to her feet, glad she was able to do so again. He patted her hand, and they smiled at each other. For the first time, Mulan was confident that Shang had forgiven her.   
"Feel better?" He asked as he stood as well. After she nodded, he said. "Then we will leave in half an hour." As she watched him go, Mulan wished she had the courage to kiss him, just once. .

Chapter Four

Yao grumbled and complained his way through the snow as Mulan trailed behind him, with Ling and Chien-Po far ahead of them both. They had reached the Pass only that morning, and Shang had sent the four of them on a patrol through the eastern area of the Pass, different men were covering the other directions. But not only did Yao not like scouting, he did not like snow.   
"They had to have come through here," Mulan persisted. "The men who came from the Palace anyway, and their trail will lead us to the others. Besides, if the Huns are moving North in such numbers, we want to avoid them until we are joined by the rest of our forces coming from the North. Wu Zhong is too far South to wait." That was the way Mulan understood it all anyway. Actually, this was main reason for coming here, not to look for Huns. It was terrible for morale if the men knew that they would be outnumbered. But the chance of their paths crossing here was a good one, if the Huns were moving North as fast as the reports had indicated.   
Her friends continued trudging in the snow, Ling climbing up one low slope to get a view over the mountain. All of a sudden he began waving his arms frantically above his head, Mulan and the others ran to his side to see what he had found.   
He did not even have to point over the hill for them to understand what had caught his eye. Long columns of men were rolling over the planes towards them, decked out in armor and mounted atop fine horses. Catching sight of Ling, three bannermen raised their flags high in the air, flags bright with the Imperial Seal. Mulan had never seen so many men in all her life, not even the massive Hun invasion at the Pass had numbered this many. She was glad these were the troops Shang had mentioned, and not Huns.   
"General Li!" Chien-Po slid down from the slope to run to Shang, who was already riding towards them, his cape elegantly spread across that white stallion of his. Shang climbed beside Mulan and her friends, where they all half knelt against the snow covered rock of the little peak to get a view over the edge.   
The General looked pleased. "They've made good time," he said, waving a hand, but he did not smile. Shang never smiled in front of his troops. "I'm going down to meet them, you four keep looking." Back on his horse, Mulan watched him as he rode straight-backed and proud as he descended the slope to meet his new soldiers. To her eyes, he appeared the very picture of command.   
"We'll find 'em, pretty boy," Yao muttered, clenching his fists. There something about Shang's finesse that irritated the burly man.   
Complaints and all, Yao led the way over another slope, his good eye studying the ground carefully. Yao was a good scout, in Mulan's opinion, she did see anything wrong with Shang's order. Except that with the way Ling and Yao brawled, they would likely get everyone killed if a Hun ambush was waiting.   
"Look," Foot prints in the snow had caught Chien-Po's attention. The group gathered closer to him for a look. Footprints indeed, large as if they had made by boots and hooves. It was springtime, and no new snow had fallen in the mountains for quite some time, though there were still snow storms occasionally in the spring, and the snow on mountains never melted. The foot prints were headed South, out the mountains.   
Ling frustration mirrored Mulan's as she studied the path the prints marked out for them. Which direction were the Huns moving? If these were leading South, and the Huns were moving North. Confused, Mulan turned to Ling. "Get Shang," her voice held a not of urgency, the thought of Huns made her shiver. "I want to know what he makes of this."   
"The ones who escaped have gone South to lead their armies," Shang mused as he knelt in the snow to examine the marks. Mulan stood at his shoulder, watching him with a worried expression. He did not appear the least bit alarmed though, but acted as if it were all precisely as he anticipated. It could have been, for all she knew. "Mien Tzu is the only name I know of them. Well," he said, dusting himself as he got up. "I have orders from the Emperor to report to him personally the situation here." Mulan sighed, he was not going to leave her here in command of all these men! "You four will come with me. Those men that just arrived have a Captain I trust for a day. The Huns are not enough to worry about them yet." She exhaled, glad he was taking her and her friends with him. "We must reach the Imperial City by nightfall. Move out." Exchanging looks, the four friends followed Shang as he left his orders and rode out of the mountains.

***

Bayar watched sadly as the litter was passed to the waiting Hun soldiers. They were going to take Shan-Yu home, to honor him there. It was hard to peel his stare away from the shrouded bundle, he was like a lover gazing into the eyes of his beloved. Shan-Yu was no beloved, but he was a part of Bayar, the part of him that was in love with greatness and conquest. That seemed a rich joke, since his mother had given him a name that meant Joy   
The rest of these men, numbering three thousand, would stay under his command. They had entered from the west a few hundred at a time to avoid notice, and had kept moving from different places until they met here a bit south of the famed Wu Zhong camp where military business was issued in this part of the region. They would have burned the camp, but that would be unfair. Let them train their warriors as brave as they could be, it would make defeat taste so much sweeter in the end. The better way to distract the Emperor was to go after his people, and there were several villages in the area. He had wasted so much of his army on that the last time it had almost cost him his life. A pity, for the Emperor, if he had kept his men around the Palace he might have had a fighting chance. But it was too late for China, they would fail.   
"We'll take the scenic route," Bayar smiled at his men, they knew their enemy as well as he. Not all treasures were found in a Palace.   
After one long look at the men riding away with Shan-Yu's corpse, Bayar led his army farther South.

***

The Imperial City did not appear to Mulan as it had the first time she had seen it. There were no paper dragons, no dancers, no strung up lights to line the streets. It was just before sunset when the five of them arrived, when shops were closing for the day and when men were returning home from their work. The grandeur had not been lost though, in fact it settled over the place like a fog. The Imperial City had been the first city Mulan had ever had seen, and she knew none could out shine it.   
They were received with great fuss by the Palace guards and servants, Shang was bowed to and saluted, as well as Mulan, while the other heroes were offered their every wish within the Palace walls. But those hopes were crushed when Shang insisted to the guards that this was a matter of haste and that they must see the Emperor immediately. The guard had scurried away to deliver the General's message, only to return with a sour look upon his face.   
"His Majesty is speaking with ambassadors now, General Li, but will dine with the four of you tonight. For now, all he can manage is a council member." The guard suddenly found himself glimpsing five scowling faces, Shang no less than the rest of them.   
Chi Fu was quite the same as Mulan remembered him, a stork trying to emulate a peacock though he had not the bright feathers. He was a sniveling worm of a man with a haughty air Mulan could only describe as pungent, still trotting about with his nose so high it was a wonder his feet touched the ground. He sniffed at Mulan with a fine disdain as he glanced over the group one at a time, searching for some way to demean them.   
"Li Shang," His simper had a bit of a bite to it, then he was always scornful. "What is the meaning of this?" With a flutter of his hand, he indicated Mulan's uniform. "Hasn't this... woman.... had enough of swordplay?" Then he turned to Mulan, thinking himself too good to meet her eye. "It is time you think of more womanly duties, young lady. That is," he circled his hand elaborately in front of his chest, "If any man will have you."   
Mulan cheeks burned, not with shame but with anger, she instinctively stepped forward. "I..." The hand Shang laid on her shoulder was like a weight too heavy to shift beneath, he would not tolerate her arguing with Chi Fu. Mulan remembered a time when Chi Fu's disapproval of Mulan had been very infuriating to Shang, she wondered why then and not now. The expression on his face had never changed.   
"We bring news about the Huns," Shang announced, slightly impatient. Was it with her, or with Chi Fu? "And do not question who commands in my army. You are not fit for it." The elder man gasped, not knowing what to say. Mulan tried very hard not to smile, even when Shang dropped his restraining hand. "Now," The General waited for Chi Fu to be calmed by his stare. "The Huns." She could not help but admire the way Shang could hold his temper, Chi Fu tried hard to get under Shang's skin, but the truth was it was a way of hiding the fact that the younger man frightened him.   
After Shang had relayed the news, the servants came to escort their guests to their rooms for the evening.   
  


Chapter 5

The rooms Mulan was given were a lavish suite that met her eyes as a swirl of silk and gold and porcelain, every minor detail more exquisite than the next. The floor was spread with painstakingly detailed carpets that seemed to come from a lofty collection declared fine enough to lay at the bottom of a throne. Even the view was a mix of soft touch and rich color as the silken draperies graciously parted to reveal the garden below. It was certainly not the finest suite the Imperial Palace had to offer, but was by far the grandest Mulan's eyes had even been treated to. She tried hard not to stand agape, for the serving girl's presence.   
Her attendant ushered her to the wide bed - which was a proud display of patterned red silk and intricate gold thread - to inspect the pile that lay neatly upon it. Mulan could not stifle a gasp this time as she was struck by yet another wonder. A dress as fine as any Mulan had ever seen was displayed for her there, in floral brocaded silk that was a gentle green hue, as well as a slightly darker green sash that bound a color complementing drape over the rich ivory under skirt. The eye pleasing ensemble brought a delighted smile to Mulan's face, her keen taste for clothing had gone neglected over the months. Armor was impressive, and well suited for a man's way, but the aesthetic value of a fine dress was incomparable.   
A warm bath was prepared for her in all haste, sweetened by the hypnotic aroma of exotic perfumes and beauty oils to cleanse her hair and skin. Mulan relaxed in the hot water with an easy sigh, allowing the servants to scrub her clean and rinse her hair. There had been a time when she had hated all this fuss over appearances, but to a village girl all the preening and primping meant having to face the horror of the local Matchmaker, where the looming prospect of disgracing yourself and family hung cruelly in the balance. Now Mulan allowed herself to kneel comfortably on a cushion while her hair was elaborately designed above her head and held fast by tortes shell combs carved into the likeness of painted lotus blossoms. One of the waiting women produced a painted glass box and lifted the lid to reveal all manner of cosmetics beneath. Mulan even sat still while the exotic foundations and rouges were brushed across her skin, transforming her sun darkened complexion to a pale ivory ripe with a golden radiance. She did not flinch when pale lavender powder was dusted across her lids, or the thick black ink drawn around her eyes, or the red liquid painted on her lips. In fact she allowed herself to be quite pleased with the doll like portrait gazing back at her through the gilded looking glass held up before her. She wished she had not been so indifferent the first time she had worn make up. It was nice to be reminded she was a woman sometimes.   
The green gown was indeed becoming, set off by a jade pendant and earrings - gifts from His Majesty - this time the trailing skirt and sleeves spoke of grace and not artfully masked clumsiness. Mulan realized she had learned a precious lot about poise while trying to deflect stones with a staff and a full bucket balanced on her head.   
Stepping over to the larger looking glass, Mulan favored herself with a smile, spreading an elaborately painted fan before her face and glancing demurely over it. She had accepted the fact that she would never be the porcelain doll so coveted by her people, perhaps that was why it was such fun to play at it tonight.   
When she exited her room, Shang and others were already standing at the top of one grandly spiraling staircase. They all were resplendent in their finest uniforms, and Shang looked most regal, it was proper attire for military guests. Their eyes widened when they glimpsed her painted, silk clad form gliding towards them, waving her fan delicately as she moved. Yao whistled his approval, only to earn a slap from the astonished Ling, he had not noticed it was her behind the fan.   
"And she says no man wants to marry her?" Yao growled in disbelief. Shang glared at him to be silent.   
The General came forward to stand before her, Mulan slowly glanced above her fan and gently smiled, butterflies floating in her stomach as she awaited his reaction. His dark eyes studied her carefully, half surprised, half curious. When the full weight of his gaze fell on her heavily rouged countenance, a wave of self-conscious embarrassment crept over her. The paint itched, the shadow burdened her lids, and her lips felt sticky when she tried to purse them thoughtfully. Was she insane? He would never look at her as anything but a soldier, she may as well have been a boy stuffed into a dress and concealed with a mask. She was a fool.   
As she lowered her fan, Mulan was reminded of the first time she had met him. She had risen from her cowering position to find herself standing nervously before a serious young man, more handsome than she had ever seen, towering head and shoulders over her, gesturing to her grandly with an elegantly armored hand. Somehow he had managed to make regal decorum and commanding grace seem entirely masculine. And somehow his searching eyes had made her feel more small and foolish than the Matchmaker ever had. She felt no different now.   
"Lovely," Shang whispered, too softly for the others to hear.   
Mulan blinked in pure shock. Surely it was a jest. But there was something in his voice that made her believe, in her heart of hearts, that he was not teasing this time.   
Snapping her fan shut, she acknowledged the compliment with a distinguished nod of her head before turning to her friends. Shang looked after her for a moment and shrugged as if to say "I tried" before joining them in descending the staircase.   
The banquet hall was decked to be more resplendent than anything in the Palace at that moment, brightly adorned with streamers and lanterns and other colorful things. The table was truly the crowing jewel of the room though, piled with dishes of spiced meats and fish, fancy rice and vegetables in strange sauces both pale and dark in color. Chien-Po positively beamed with glee, as the sight of so much food must have been a variable paradise for him. Yao and Ling hardly looked disappointed as well. The Emperor assumed his accustomed place at the table's head, and Shang took a place of honor at his right with Mulan beside him. This came much to Chi-Fu's dismay, who had been demoted to the Emperor's left. Mulan was glad to sit next to Shang, for much as she loved her other friends, she was quite skeptical of their table manners. After they had been served and had toasted, Mulan noticed that all four of them were copying Shang - something that after weeks of training had become second nature to them.   
"So," Chi-Fu had said, for once without his clipboard, primly gesturing with his pair of chopsticks that had trapped a sliver of meat between them. Foppish, was the only word Mulan could think of. "You have found Huns, General."   
Shang nodded. "Their tracks have headed east. We will follow their trail immediately." He inclined his head politely to the Emperor. "With your Majesty's permission of course." The Emperor nodded his consent.   
"I have a better idea," Chi-Fu squawked, swirling his chopsticks in the air again. "Why do we not offer Fa Mulan in marriage to their leader instead. We do not have a princess, as was the solution before, but she is valued enough that it may do." Mulan began counting the ways one could use chopsticks as a weapon.   
All of a sudden, The Emperor, Chi-Fu and Shang engaged in a battle of stares, though Mulan could not tell whose was the challenge and whose was the threat that answered it.   
"I would rather marry you," It was delivered with so self-contained and innocent, Mulan was sure Chi-Fu would not understand the insult.   
Instead, he waved his chopsticks at her angrily. "Silence!" he whined. "I warned your father about teaching you to hold your tongue in the presence of a man. General, how do you abide this... this... creature!" was the only word he could come up with. "If your father knew that you..."   
Shang straightened as his hostility turned to anger, mention of his father was a delicate subject, and dangerous if you were Chi-Fu. But the Emperor was wise enough to intervene. "Enough, Chi-Fu." he declared. "A guest at my table may speak whenever she wishes." But Mulan could see Shang was still quite upset at the suggestion that he had dishonored his father.   
"We will ride South in the morning," he told the Emperor in his usual confident tone. "The troops have gone back to Wu Zhong to prepare. We will protect China at all costs."   
The Emperor smiled, seeming quite proud of his new General.

***

That night after Mulan had said goodbye to her friends for the evening, Shang had followed her down the corridor to her room. She had just reached the door and was slipping a hair comb from her hair when she heard his voice behind him.   
"Mulan?" He did not sound so confident now, in fact he sounded much as he did the day he had returned her helmet. It must be the dress again, she thought.   
She turned slowly, trying to stand gracefully with her hands at her sides. But she was still a little embarrassed that he should see her in a dress and make-up. "Yes," she tried to make her answer calm.   
"What Chi-Fu said, about my father being ashamed of you... " He sighed, talking about his father still pained him. It broke her heart to see it. "I think he would have been proud."   
Mulan smiled, hopeful, but there was a bitter twist to her words. "And why is that, because I fight good?"   
This actually drew a laugh from him, a nervous laugh. "No, because you have saved China, and because of you everyone believes I am a great man." His voice was filled with doubt and shame. This was surprising, Shang was a man of surety, but Chi Fu always had that way with him.   
What was he talking about? He had been the one who had taught her everything she knew of war, and the one who had seen what happened to his father and his men yet had still made the choice to go on. More than that, it was Shang who had actually saved the Emperor from Shan-Yu. He was as much a hero as she, more so in her opinion, her hero anyway.   
"You are a great man, Shang," Mulan said simply. "I would give a lot to be like you." She would.   
He beamed as though the girl of his dreams had just said she loved him. All Mulan had done was tell him the truth. "I would give more to be like you," he answered. Mulan did not really know why, but she stepped forward to hug him warmly. It was a reassuring hug, but one that reminded her of how close she often felt to him, even if she had never really mentioned it.   
"Mulan," he said when they stood apart again. This time he spoke with his old self assurance. "You truly are beautiful." She blushed, it was the most wondrous thing anyone had ever said to her.   
"Goodnight, Shang," she smiled.   
He seized her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing it gently. Mulan felt tingles all over her skin, it was such a strikingly sensual gesture. "Goodnight," he smiled back. Mulan watched with a dreamy expression as the red-caped General strode down the hall, disappearing and reappearing through the golden pools of lantern light.   


Chapter Six   


After an Imperial breakfast, the small party of soldiers set out from the Palace a tardy hour after sunrise. They rode swiftly through the roads and thoroughfares of the great capitol with the glowing orange ball of the rising sun at their backs. Yao and Ling had been full of conversation about Chi-Fu that morning, though the trio had chosen to remain admirably silent in the exchange at the banquet the previous night. Mulan suspected that for once the rather flagrant pair had elected to follow Chien-Po's example. Shang had little to contribute this morning, but Mulan noticed he had a tendency to separate himself when in the company of his men. When he was riding with the business of war at hand, Shang stuck to being the ever watchful General who was there to lead them. But when others were not around, he allowed to her to glimpse who he was in terms of friendship, a warm and quietly emotional man. Mulan had come to accept this as simply Shang's way, but could not refraim from grinning delightedly behind him at the knowledge that he had finally become comfortable around her in a dress.   
The journey from the Imperial City to the snowy foothills heralding the mountain pass took the greater part of the day. But soon they rejoined the encampment stationed on the slopes, who reported no sign of Huns on the march. That came as a relief, though no one really expected any. The Imperial Army assembled its ranks quickly and made a handsome procession of columns of thousands all the way to the Wu Zhong camp, where the rest of the newly trained recruits waited.   
And soon after their arrival, the cliffs and paths of the great Army posts were abandoned as the newly trained foot soldiers and men on horseback joined the marching ranks in their journey east, after the Hun's trail.   
***   
Fa Zhou was seated in his garden when the heard the drums pounding from the village watch tower over head. His heart clenched with worry, knowing that only news of dire of import would call the watch to such a signal. The last time he had heard the drums, the Emperor's henchmen men had brought the conscription letters to the province. The night Mulan had run away. Fa Zhou heard the new warning with a heavy heart, fearing a crisis at hand.   
He could not stopped Mulan from going off to war again, the Emperor's call carried too much weight, Mulan could not even have refused if she wanted to. She had seemed eager though, not because she loved war, but because her sense of duty overshadowed all other things. Fa Zhou briefly wondered if his spirited girl finally understood why he had been so willing to go off to war.   
Limping from the bench, Fa Zhou met his wife and mother at the gate, who were gazing with worry out into the street. His wife was a quiet and demure woman, but she had a fine intuition of things.   
"The Huns are riding for this village!" A lean man called from his doorstep, a man who had lived there for several decades and had a sort of distinguished presence among the village folk. "Those barbarians will destroy us all!"   
Several of the village fathers rushed out, the ones who had sons to fight for them, all of the people were gathering outside. The men suggested raising a defense against the Huns, which in Fa Zhou's experienced opinion was worse than doing nothing. They would only run to meet their slaughter if they did so.   
"No," Fa Zhou stepped out in the square, holding himself stiffly so this his limp was not so obvious. The men looked over to him in surprise, suspecting that a man who had once fought so bravely would be in favor of the idea, and better would agree to lead them. But Fa Zhou was not a man wedded to foolishness. "We must go. We can leave nothing for them. We must leave this place."   
The crowd burst into panicked whispers and startled gasps at what Fa Zhou was suggesting. Abandon their homes? But they had grown up, married, and had their children here, they had lived here all their lives... they had... The list of protests went on and on, but another man stepped forward to agree with the old hero, and then another.   
Stoically, Fa Li took up the first torch.   
***   
Mulan was excited when Shang said they would ride through Mulan's village to take a shortcut, and that he did not mind if she stopped for a bit to see her family. She had missed them all terribly over the weeks, and would like them to see her in all the splendor of her new uniform. Shang understood this quite well, assuring her that Fa Zhou would be quite proud.   
The hoof prints appeared again, breaking out of the woods and along the path the Army was headed. Mulan felt a stab of worry, what if the Huns had come near her village? That was silly though, there was nothing of military value or anything to gain by riding through it. In fact, for the Huns, it would be veering out the way.   
But as they drew closer, smoke hung thick in the air, smelling of still burning wood and leaves. Her heart grew heavy when she saw the grayish curtain cloud the view in the direction of her home. It could not be...   
Her nightmares were realized when they passed through an empty ghost town where the blossoming plum trees and spacious farm houses had once stood. There was nothing now, only a mournful silence which loomed thicker than the smoke interrupted by a faint crackling where the skeletons of buildings still burned. Mulan's heart grew cold and still as she glimpsed the charred destruction of her childhood home. She tried to blink away the scene furiously, praying it was a mere illusion of what she had seen long ago at the Pass, praying it was anything other than truth. There were no temples, no trees, not man, nor woman, nor child. There was only the foul-smelling smoke that stung her eyes, and the few embers to sparked like funeral pyres to remind her of those who had died in the massacre. And worst of all, there was the silence.   
Mulan climbed down from Khan's back, holding his reins as she searched the ruins with disbelieving eyes. The hoof prints had stopped abruptly, only to change direction towards the north, back to the Pass. But Mulan did not care anymore. She walked on, glancing between piles of ash until something caught her eye. Running over, Mulan swept up whatever it was in her gauntlet.   
She gasped, it was a hair decoration carved into the shape of a lotus blossom, the kind a girl would wear to a betrothal ceremony. She owned one almost like it once.   



	2. Default Chapter Title

#  Blooming In Adversity

Chapters 7-11 + Epilogue

Chapter Seven

Clutching the flower hair comb to her chest, Mulan thudded to her knees on the ground. Her head dropped forward, falling over her clenched hands. Shock rendered her speechless, and vaguely aware of her three friends awkwardly stepping forward to comfort her, and of Shang's presence hovering over her shoulder. Ling reached out his arms to embrace Mulan, but drew back when he saw Shang kneel down beside her, his face a mask of sorrow. He alone understood.   
The General wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulder, drawing Mulan close to him as tears began to shimmer on her cheeks. Sobbing furiously, Mulan collapsed against Shang. letting the comb drop from her fingers as she turned to cling to him, burying her face in his shirt as if she were trying to shield herself from the nightmare around her. Shang reached up to gently cradle her head against his chest, looking sadly up at the three men who exchanged worried glances with their General, wondering what to do for their grieving friend.   
"Will you three see if the others have found anything?" They all were startled. It was the first time he had actually asked and not ordered. "I think I am going to send her back to Wu Zhong. She does not need to see this."   
But only a moment after the trio turned on their heels, Mulan looked up from Shang's embrace. "I'm sorry," her words were muffled by her crying. She struggled to sit up straight, blinking back her tears as though the passionate display of emotion was something shameful, but Shang only held her steady as he dabbed at her smeared cheeks with his shirt sleeve.   
"This is why I work so hard so China can be free of them." he told her somberly, taking in the charred ruins where the village had once stood. Lifting up her chin he stared into her eyes. Tears still stood in them, ready to fall again. "My father died for it."   
She seemed not to hear him though. "I guess I'm not a very good soldier..."   
Shang glanced around a moment than raised her head higher as he leaned down.   
Mulan trembled when she felt his lips touch hers, gently and slowly. No one had ever kissed her before. For a moment, the warmth of that kiss was enough to numb the grief so that it was too far away to hurt her. Mulan had never felt so close to another person in all her life, that they shared this pain, fresh as it was it cut into her deeply. She remembered the strength he had shown at the Tung Shao Pass, and wished for it now. And when she returned his kiss, it was with an involuntary touch of passion.   
"General!" a shout rang in the distance. it was Yao. The pair broke away, each helping the other in scrambling to their feet. For one burning instant Mulan hated her friend.   
Then a woman's terrified scream pierced through the silence - well, for Mulan, there was silence - and the sound of boots and clinking metal echoed somewhere from the trees. Yao and Ling were already running with their swords drawn, swiftly followed by Chien-Po and finally Shang. Brandishing her own sword, Mulan caught up to them, fearful of what she might see.   
Two large men appeared between a gap in the trees, their long hair and fur decorated clothing gave them away. Still, the shrieks persisted. When Mulan took a closer look behind the second Huns, she saw a third man struggling with a girl in one massive arm, trying to throw her to the ground. Yao lunged at the first with Ling at his side, Ling delivering a high kick to the man's head while Yao swiped at him with his sword.. With the force of the blow, Ling had sent the one flying into other, knocking the pair to the ground. Yao began attacking both with his fists. Then the third drew his sword and waved it over Yao's head, the panic-stricken girl still imprisoned at his side. Mulan gasped, her mouth open to shout a warning. But with a deft move, Shang kicked the sword out of the Hun's hand, seizing the woman by the arm to yank her free and throw her into Chien-Po's waiting hold. He threw himself at the Hun, wrestling furiously with kicks and blows until Mulan saw a silvery blur of metal slip between the man's ribs.   
Shang got up quickly, cleaning his knife on the Hun's waist cape. Mulan found it hard to look at him, or the Hun, at first. But when she saw the horror that had frozen the young woman's face, Mulan thought she could forgive Shang.   
"Chien-Po," Shang said quietly.   
The big man released his hold on the young lady in his arms, helping her to stand aright. Her dress was torn and stained, but the pale blue silk had once been fine, and though the tapered end of one trailing sleeve was missing, Mulan knew this girl was not wearing a ceremonial gown for nothing. The doll like features of her powdered face and painted eyes proclaimed her a bride in the making, and surely more a successful one than Mulan had been. Her cosmetics and elaborately wrapped hair had managed to stay intact, but her face was a painted mask of repulsion, and fear.   
"Are you hurt?" Shang inquired of the young woman, trying to be soothing. He reached out to take her by the arm and turn her view from the dying Hun, but she flinched so at his hand that Shang withdrew it quickly.   
The girl's lips trembled nervously as she spoke. "I-I-I d-doon't think s-s-so, sir."   
"Will you tell us your name?" Mulan knew Shang was only doing the best he could with the situation, but she shook her head. He was a man and could not understand.   
"Min Mei-La"   
Chien-Po smiled. "That's a lovely name." But he stopped there when both Shang and Mulan shot him an identical warning, reminding him this was no time to flirt. Mei-La was quite pretty though, when the fear had left her face.   
Mei La regained her compusre, and began to calmly relate her story.   
"I was in town, to be betrothed, and when I returned later everything was gone. It was as if the families had burned their homes themselves, not the Huns. I hid in the trees when they rode through here. Well it's harder to hide from men on foot, the three men found me just before you came. They complained of nothing to loot, and said that I would have to do. They said after me, the Imperial City would do as well."   
Mulan felt her heart leap inside her chest. If the people had burned their own homes that meant her family was alive, but where? Shang broke into a smile, the knowledge of the Hun's plan brought a glow to his face Mulan had never witnessed in him before.   
"Chien-Po." A momentary glow, he was back in command again. "Whatever Mei-La wishes to do, see that it is done. We cannot take a lady with us, it would be too dangerous for her." Then he turned to Mulan and the other two men. "Come, We ride for the Imperial City."   
The small party joined the other soldiers in mounting their horses. Turning the reins of his white stallion, Shang led the riders in the direction of the mountains.   
Mulan risked one last look at the charred remains and scattered embers that had once been her home, their was a lump in her heart where the grief had lived. But her family was alive, somehow a burned village seemed a fair price to pay for it.   
***   
Mulan had much to think over as Khan followed Shang in climbing the rocky terrain nearing the mountains. The air grew colder as the roads took them into higher ground, making her glad for the heavy armor and cape. She spent a great deal of time staring at Shang's back as he rode ahead of her. Every now and then he would turn around to say something about the Huns or about the soldiers, but his behavior was no different than before he had kissed her. What would possess him to do a thing like that back there? And when he had had more convenient opportunities? Maybe it was not that kind of kiss, Mulan decided - then again she was rather ignorant about such things. Mulan had been around few men in her life that were not family, and she certainly never had any male friends until now. But Yao, Ling or Chien-Po had never kissed her before. Shang was different from them though. She loved her friends but she had to admit the General was far more refined, Maybe it was merely his way of comforting her. Mulan knew Shang loved her, only not in the way that she wanted him to.   
"Chien-Po says you are a girl," she heard a crystalline voice announce from her right, declaring that the word of one of her rescues carried a great deal of weight in her lofty opinion. Still, the voice had a hint of a frosty edge, defining the sentiment on the issue a mix of awe and distaste. Mulan turned to see Min Mei-La gracefully draped across the side of Chien-Po's saddle in front of him. The man looked awkward riding, he had grumbled several times that he would rather walk. Shang had laughed at him, and said that they were trying to move in all haste. Mei-La's dress had been straightened though the silk was ruined beyond repair, but she wore the thing so regally it almost seemed the tears and dirt belonged there. Dignity and refinement, Mulan heard the Matchmaker say, Mei-La was certainly the very picture of it. It was strange, but Mulan had never been so envious of someone in all her life.   
"Yes, I am," Mulan answered her patiently. "Were you betrothed after all?"   
Mei-La spoiled her grace a bit by shrugging her shoulders. "The Matchmaker bid me return tomorrow, to have her answer. I should be though," Producing a fan from her dress, Mei-La gave a laugh as she opened it to hide her face demurely behind its painted folds. "The last time I saw her, she told me no man would want a woman who smiled so much."   
Shaking her head, Mulan tried not to notice what Chien-Po's goofy eyes said. He thought her pretty when she smiled.   
"How come you were never married, Mulan?" Chien-Po asked suddenly. Opening her mouth, Mulan prepared to explain, but she shut it when she realized Shang was riding towards them.   
He had seen the three talking, and looked Mei-La over carefully. The pretty young lady fluttered her fan delicately before her face, feigning modesty, but in truth she was looking Shang over in a most unladylike fashion, pursing her red lips thoughtfully at what she saw. "I see you are alright, that's good." Mulan tried to straighten and master as much poise as the other girl. She thought of the fine clothes she had donned at the Imperial Palace, her effort at feminine grace must have seemed as a duckling would compare to a swans. It was silly though, Shang had not even so much as smiled at Mei-La and Mulan was trying to compete with her. Well, Mei-La was beautiful, - in an overdone, curvaceous kind of way - Mulan supposed she could not help that.   
"Mulan was going to tell us why she was never betrothed to anyone." Mulan silently reminded herself to light a cannon under Chien-Po while he was slept that night.   
The General quirked an eyebrow in that sophisticated manner of his. The subject intrigued him.   
By this time, Yao and Ling joined the group, wondering what all the discussion was about. Or perhaps they had come for a closer look at Mei-La. Either way, Mei-La took the liberty of announcing the topic at hand for the newcomers. They were also intrigued. Mulan wanted to kill them all for delighting in the most humiliating experience of her young life.   
But she told them the story, quite embarrassed by Mei-La's lovely presence and her mastery of feminine perfection. She told them how the women of the village had helped to dress and prepare, and how she had written the notes on her arm in case she forgot what to say. They laughed at that, even these four soldiers knew the Final Admonition better than she! The group exploded into deeper fits of hilarity when she repeated the incident with the tea, and its unfortunate consequences for the Matchmaker. Finally, she told them what the dreadful old woman had said to her about being a disgrace. Mei-La gasped in horror, her eyebrows climbing above the rim of her fan. All of the men saw such amazing humor in the incident that they did not see the hurt in her face as she repeated those scathing words, particularly Shang, whom she had never seen so greatly amused. That hurt her even more, that he should laugh at her.   
Seizing Khan's reins, Mulan rode away from them sadly.   
That night, Mulan sat in solitude, eating her rice and poking at her fire with a stick. None of her friends had approached her since the afternoon, none of them probably understood why she had gotten upset. Yao and Ling were huddled around their fire, squabbling over a game of Xiang Qi. Shang stood over Ling, speaking quietly to him. Ling made a move and all of a sudden Yao was throwing the pieces and showing Ling his fists. Shang walked away laughing to himself. Chien-Po was seated next to Mei-La around their own fire, the pair was talking softly and holding hands. Everyone seemed to be having fun despite the battles that lay ahead. She stirred at her fire again, this time with a bit of vengeance.   
Mulan was silent when Shang came over to sit down beside her, prying the stick from her fingers to tend the fire more calmly. "What's the matter, Mulan?" He asked her quietly. But she refused to look at him, instead she turned away and hung her head.   
"Nothing."   
"Mulan?"   
Sighing heavily, she realized he was going to press her until she admitted the truth. It was flattering, she decided, that he cared enough to want to know what troubled her. Perhaps he just felt guilty. "The Matchmaker was right," she mumbled in despair. "I am a disgrace."   
"Fa Mulan, stop it. That's an order," Shang answered her sharply.   
She shook her head, stubborn in her self-effacing conviction. "I dishonored my father twice in one day, failed as a bride, and had to run away from home and kill a conqueror to make them forget about it." Then she finally turned around to face Shang. "And that's why I joined army where you yourself said I did not belong." You don't belong here, Mulan. Go home. Those words had wounded her, she was surprised at the freshness of their sting.   
"The morning I met you, my father gave me a sword. Just a sword. My father wasn't a proud man like your father, he was arrogant. It didn't matter if I was the most incompetant soldier in China, the fact that I was his son was enough to put me in command. I didn't have much time to learn to be a leader, I thought my father could teach me. When he died, I lost the whole world in one moment, and in the next I learned everything I needed to know from watching you." She had never seen him look so intense before, his eyes gleamed, burning their meaning into her. The words nearly startled her. "I never said you didn't belong in the army," Shang challenged his long ago comment firmly after a pause. "I said you didn't belong at the Imperial Palace where people like Chi Fu were standing around. People with far more power than I had. Mulan, you were foolish to come back, to risk your life that way. I was furious to see you being so naive."   
Mulan sniffed, that was not how it appeared to her. "You had every right to be angry, I did not come back to be haloed a hero. I came to warn you." She sighed, his wrath then had hurt her so badly. He reached out a hand as though to apologize, but she shook him off. "I'll never bring honor to my family the way Mei-La will." She glanced enviously at the graceful young woman smiling at Chien-Po, and the way he was fawning over her with such charming adoration. Mulan wished someone would look at her that way. Someone who did not treat her like one of the men.   
But Shang was incredulous. "After all you've done? Joined the army, saved the Emperor? All you want is to be a porcelain doll?" He shrugged as though women as a whole absolutely confounded him, turning to diplomacy instead. "I would imagine that Mei-La will never bring honor to China as you have. And I am sure she wishes Chien-Po would see in her something more than her beauty." She had to admire his wisdom, Mulan had never thought of it quite that way. Shang placed an arm around her, giving her a warm squeeze. "Mulan, you've always been so brave. You don't know how much I love..." he stopped, gazing at her intently. Even the fire ceased to crackle in suspense. Then he looked down. "...that" he finished modestly. Her heart sank.   
"You do not admire Mei-La?" She masked her disappointment smoothly.   
He looked a bit surprised by the question, but recovered himself quickly to give her a fair answer. Shang was always fair. "Mei-La is made to please the eye, but that is all."   
"Is that not what men want?" Mulan challenged. "A woman to draw the eye and nothing more?" It was hard to believe they were discussing this, he had never been so open with her before.   
"Most men, yes" he admitted. "But a strong man is one who seeks more than is expected." Then his beautiful dark eyes settled back on Mulan, something meaningful in them that she did not quite understand. "And the man who finds it is blessed beyond all wealth and glory." Her heart melted inside her chest, she titled her head, wishing he would kiss her again. Maybe if she kissed him... But the spell was broken when he got to his feet, pulling her after him by the hand. "Come on, Yao is losing at Xiang Qi because I've been helping Ling. Why don't you join us and make things fair?"   
A kiss would have been wonderful, but she was willing to settle with simply remaining near him for the evening.   
When the pair joined Yao and Ling, the stout man was winning the game - much to Ling's dismay. Yao grumbled a threat when he saw Shang sitting opposite him, beside the losing Ling. "If you're so good at this you can play me yourself, pretty boy." The General was amused at Yao's defiance, not even "pretty boy" brought any offense to him. Mulan took a place next to Yao and whispered where to move his next piece. The feisty man rubbed his hands together with a broad grin every time she suggested a particularly advantageous move. The game went on for quite some time, sometimes in Yao's favor and sometimes in Ling's. Finally the contesting men moved aside and shoved the board between Mulan and Shang   
"You two play," Yao suggested.   
Ling echoed his approval. "This should be good!" Then he craned his skinny neck to call over Mulan's head. "Chien-Po! Mei-La! Come over here and watch!"   
The new couple whirled around with a shared star struck expression, as if the realization that a world existed beyond each other's eyes was quite a shock to them. But they came, the massive Chien-Po escorting his lovely new sweetheart by the hand. They took a place to one side, between Mulan and Shang.   
Shang propped himself on an elbow as he studied the board and the arrangement of pieces, deducing a move. But it was Mulan's turn. She grabbed one piece, then another as she mused over the prospective strategic possibilities, but he raised eyebrow with such amusement that she returned it to make a move with the first. Before she realized her mistake, he was already grinning. She took her turn again, trying to decipher a more clever move this time. But just as before his smile alerted her of her defeat, and soon he had thoroughly trounced her at the game.   
"Strategy" Shang chided his female lieutenant playfully. She sniffed.   
Mei-La pursed her lips behind her fan. She appeared scandalized that Shang would speak to a woman as his equal. But she looked over the two of them thoughtfully. It was then that Mulan decided that this girl was perhaps not so dumb as she pretended.   
That night, Mulan did not object when Mei-La suggested Mulan share her tent with her instead of sleeping on the ground. It was Mulan's tent, but she was willing to give it up for Mei-La's privacy. The girl was unaccustomed to the company of soldiers. She brought Mei-La the wash water to rinse off her make-up and helped her out of her silks and into a spare shirt Mulan had in her bags. The prissy young lady was several inches shorter than Mulan, who was not tall herself, and so the pale garment reached her knees decently enough in the company of another woman. Mulan even assisted her companion in loosening her hair to brush the long black locks. The preparations for a girl to meet the Matchmaker were fastidious, it took two pairs of hands to undo them.   
When they were finished, Mei-La stretched out on her pile of blankets comfortably, gazing up at nothing in particular. "I want to marry Chien-Po," she announced suddenly.   
"We can't just marry who we want, Mei-La." Mulan reminded the dreamy eyed girl. "Your parents or a Matchmaker would have to arrange."   
The girl sighed sadly, Mulan felt a stab of guilt for souring her dream. "I know. But what if we could?" Then her words were surprisingly frank. "Have you ever been in love, Fa Mulan?"   
Mulan was embarrassed, she did not know quite what to say to Mei-La's so abrupt question. In these couple of hours, she had developed a fondness for Min Mei-La, though she was not ready to confess the deepest secret of her heart. "I think so," she answered simply, looking away.   
The topic of love was rather exciting to her new friend. She burst into a perfectly chiming fit of giggles. "He is sweet on you, I think. And a good thing too, I've never seen a more handsome man."   
Mulan's eyebrows climbed her forehead in a startled expression "Who, Chien-Po?" Handsome? There was no accounting for taste.   
That only brought another round of giggles, "No, no. That handsome young general with the serious eyes." Her features calmed a bit, Shang certainly was handsome.   
"We are friends," Mulan declared in annoyance. "I'm his second in command."   
"I saw him kiss you."   
Her cheeks burned, she wanted to run outside for fresh air to put out the fire in her face. Mulan decided this girl had not managed to master the demure and quiet manner demanded of a girl these days. Picking up her pillow, Mulan hurled it at the evil woman. She caught it and threw it back. Delicate indeed.   
"Go to sleep!" Mulan hissed. Mei-La's face was decorated with the most triumphant grin for having put China's most unconventional hero off balance. It was much in likeness to the smile Shang had worn when he had bested her at Xiang-Qi. Shang, Mulan let the name pour reverently across her thoughts, those beautiful eyes, that commanding grace. She wondered if what Mei-La observed was true, and what Li Shang would make of her if she spoke up about her feelings. With these thoughts, Mulan trailed off to sleep, imagining the weight of warm lips over hers as she did so.   
The following morning, Mei-La growled when her tent mate woke her at the crack of dawn, shoving a bowl of porridge in her face and ordering her to hurry. Mulan could sympathize though, as the girl tried to cower beneath the blanket. She too had taken a long time to become an early riser. Mushu had always been the one to wake her with porridge. Mulan sighed, she missed the little dragon who was now snug in the Fa family temple.   
The others were already up and dressed, packing up supplies to tie to the packhorses in order to move out with all speed. Yao and Ling had already gotten into a fight this morning, and whatever it was Shang was busy yelling at the both of them. Chien-Po did not seem to be around until Mulan spotted him next to Mei-La. When Shang asked the girl what she wished to do with herself, Mei-La stated that she requested to be taken to the next village where most of the farmers had gone as refugees, likely Mulan's family, she had said. Mei-La also informed Shang that she wished to marry Chien-Po, that unimportant piece of information earned a dry "I'm not a Matchmaker" from the General, with a sharp look for Chien-Po. The soldier bowed his head and received the tacit scolding with a grace none of his friends could have managed.   
"I will speak to the Matchmaker, my love," Mei-La had cooed to Chien-Po before she was sent on her way. The entire party looked ready to be sick on the spot.   
Mulan turned to Shang who rode next to her for most of the journey. "I wish I could see if my family is alright," she said with a wistful glance to the passing village. "My uncle has a house there, I'm sure it is where they are."   
"I'm sure they are alright, Mulan," he tried to reassure her. "We don't have time to stop."   
Frowning, Mulan sighed, but she understood.   
It was not long before the greens and browns of the country turned into the whites and blues of the mountains. There was a nervous tension among the troops as the Pass drew nearer. It would take four days before they actually made it into the mountains, and Shang did not want to enter such treacherous terrain at night, so they rode hard most of the day and well after sundown. They rode until darkness fell completely over China.   
Before bed Shang would call her to his tent, they would discuss military matters such as supplies and tactics. Sometimes he would call Yao, Ling and Chien-Po with her on those little meetings, of all his men, the four were the only ones he had any personal trust in. The men were all quick studies when it came to these things, and the three men were like honorary officers without titles, which was not to say they did not find themselves in their fair share of trouble. Shang grew weary of handing out punishments and one evening flat out ordered Ling and Yao not to brawl anymore until the war was over. But when Shang conferred with her alone, it was plainly General speaking with Lieutenant, no kisses, no soft words, not even a smile. True, Shang had his hands full, and this was nothing to take lightly - he had told her as much back at her village. But Mulan felt like riding away and shaking Mei-La for raising her hopes. Sweet on her indeed. Those days Shang acted about as sweet on her as he did Chi-Fu!   
But those days of traveling and preparing passed, and soon they found themselves within the snowy peaks and rocky cliffs that marked the Tung-Shao pass. Upon their arrival, the place looked empty and Mulan thought perhaps Mei-La had been mistaken. But Shang had seen the hoof prints in the village heading north. There were no signs an army had been through here, except what Mulan remembered of the first battle she had seen.   
She suggested they spread out to form scouting parties, but Shang disagreed. He claimed that any one of those slopes could hide thousands of Huns, placing them on too good a ground for Chinese scouts to be of much use. Likely, they had spies noticing them even now. That was a good thing about Shang, he was never willing to risk anyone's life foolishly, except his own.   
Then the sky rained thick with arrows. Fiery Hun arrows.   


Chapter Eight

Yao and Mulan were the first to have their swords out, but the rest of the men obeyed Shang's call to arms with the alacrety expected of soldiers. A shower of arrows was a telltale herald of a Hun charge, and not wanting to give them too much ground, Shang led his men on horseback to the top of the slope wheer tha arrows had appeared from the north. The Huns were quick and skilled, but they were terribly predictable.   
The Chinese formed a human blockade at the top of the slope, fighting to push the advancing Huns back to the lower the ground, a physical obsticle that stood between the Huns and the Imperial City. Mulan held her blade with poise as she awaited the onslaught, the deafening buzz of a multitude of battle cries as they rushed foward made them seem like a swarm of bees covering a honey comb. Their short ponies were made for speed, though the large riders nearly stood up straight in their saddles, using their bared swords to urge the beasts faster. These were the men that had turned at her village, Shang's troops had managed to sidestep them on the way to the Pass. gaining the few precious leagues that allowed them to defend from the south, with the capitol at their backs. Shang had planned this all along, Mulan discovered. Briliant.   
Closing her eyes briefly, Mulan could recall every vivid detail of the first Hun charge she had seen. The roars and galloping hooves still echoed in her mind. But the tables were turned now, the Huns were outnumbered, and in a poor position with it.   
"They've split their army," Shang was riding next to her now, adjusting his fingers in his hand gaurd, he motioned to the men approaching. "Shan-Yu would never have done it. Whoever their leader is now, he won't hold them together." Flipping his sword into his right hand, Shang rode to meet the charge with Mulan and the others behind him. "Stay close," Was the last thing he said to her, before turning away, red cloak waving behind him like a banner.   
The roar of battle swept over the mountainside as blades crashed, cannons blistered and more arrows were launched. It was a fierce fight that sent Chinese soldiers toppling in the snow, and Hun riders rolling down the slopes to their bloody deaths. But the Chinese defence kept on, pressing their enemy further and further down the mountain, driving them back from the Imperial City. Shang and Ling fought side by side, in a glimmer of metal and fury, then it was Yao and Ling, with Shang and Chien-Po guarding their backs.   
Mulan did as she was ordered, and kept close to Shang, swiping her blade at the attacking Huns, clenching her stomach when she saw them fall to the ground, leaving blood on the snow. She stared at their bodies in disbelief, not sure she would never get over it. The snow ran red in blood, trailing rivers that slid down the face of the slope like tears, sometimes a blushing pink where it had soaked in with the white. But their defense was succeding, at a cost to their own number, the Huns began a slow retreat back north.   
Shang and her three friends had already dismounted, watching the Huns fall back, their buzzing cries fading farther and farther away in the distance. Mulan looked on in amazement, it had been a long bloody fight. But they had won.   
Then the cries and the clatter stopped, and a lone foot soldier lingered behind his fleeting comrades, making long motions with his arms that Mulan was too far away to make out. It all happened in the space of an instant, before he vanished in the sea of horses. Something whizzed across the sky and landed into her with an explostion of sharp and unimaginable pain. Mulan screamed as the impact threw her from her mount onto the snow. 

*** 

Walking to the kicthen table, Grandma Fa suddenly dropped the tea pot in her hand. It fell to the polished wooden floor with a loud clatter.   
Fa Li looked up from table in alarm. "Grandma, are you...?"   
"Mulan is in danger." The elderly woman intoned to the room.   
Several gasps escaped the lips of the dining family, the most startled coming from Fa Zhou who limped stiffly to his feet, shrugging off the helping arm of his fearful wife. "We must pray to the ancestors," he ordered, barely able to contain the panic in his voice.   
There was no bridge or pond in this household, making the temple a much shorter walk that was only over one low a grassy slope and up a shallow flight of stone steps. Fa Zhou traveled them with great difficulty, but he was determined to stand straight and confident before his wife and mother. The temple was much the same as the one they had built at the farm, lined with shiney stone tables that were carved with spirtual words and symbols. It was as good a place for prayer as any.   
Fa Zhou, his weeping wife, and Grandma Fa entered the place to stand next to his worried brother and their children who had not yet married. They sank as one to their knees, offering all the prayers they knew that would grant the safety to so beloved a child. 

*** 

When the family had gone, the ringing of a gong brought a finely fashioned dragon incense burner to life. Mushu leaped into the air only to skid on his behind over the smooth stone ground. The gong-ringer, a lucky cricket who was a hero in his own right, chirped scornfully at the dragon.   
"Mushu!" The majestic Great Ancester bellowed with impatience. "Mulan is in grave danger."   
The tiny red dragon stopped in his tracks, widening curious round eyes in confusion. For a wonder, his face turned very serious, "Danger? Did she go join the army again? That girl... I'm gonna... I shoulda told her NO MORE DRAG SHOW!" He shook a claw menacingly at his reflection in the stone. "Maybe we should tell that Captain to tie her up for her own good.... oh, no wait wait! She might like that..."   
The Great Ancestor had lost it completely "Mushu!" Kri-Kee thonked his gong over the dragon's head, smashing him flat on the ground.   
"You will go to Mulan's aid." The first gaurdian said with forced serenity. "And you will not fail."   
Mushu was still dazed from the blow. "I... willl... not.... fail. Hey!" He perked up suddenly, allowing himself to become three-dimensional again. "I save her, she saves him, they save China... makes me feel like part of the food Chain ag-" The Ancestor snatched the gong from Kri-Kee to swing at Mushu with it, sending him flying from the temple window onto the grass below.   
"That guy should be a bouncer," Mushu grumbled as he settled to his feet, trotting off in the speed only ancestor spirits could master. 

Chapter Eight   


Yao and Mulan were the first to have their swords out, but the rest of the men obeyed Shang's call to arms with the alacrety expected of soldiers. A shower of arrows was a telltale herald of a Hun charge, and not wanting to give them too much ground, Shang led his men on horseback to the top of the slope wheer tha arrows had appeared from the north. The Huns were quick and skilled, but they were terribly predictable.   
The Chinese formed a human blockade at the top of the slope, fighting to push the advancing Huns back to the lower the ground, a physical obsticle that stood between the Huns and the Imperial City. Mulan held her blade with poise as she awaited the onslaught, the deafening buzz of a multitude of battle cries as they rushed foward made them seem like a swarm of bees covering a honey comb. Their short ponies were made for speed, though the large riders nearly stood up straight in their saddles, using their bared swords to urge the beasts faster. These were the men that had turned at her village, Shang's troops had managed to sidestep them on the way to the Pass. gaining the few precious leagues that allowed them to defend from the south, with the capitol at their backs. Shang had planned this all along, Mulan discovered. Briliant.   
Closing her eyes briefly, Mulan could recall every vivid detail of the first Hun charge she had seen. The roars and galloping hooves still echoed in her mind. But the tables were turned now, the Huns were outnumbered, and in a poor position with it.   
"They've split their army," Shang was riding next to her now, adjusting his fingers in his hand gaurd, he motioned to the men approaching. "Shan-Yu would never have done it. Whoever their leader is now, he won't hold them together." Flipping his sword into his right hand, Shang rode to meet the charge with Mulan and the others behind him. "Stay close," Was the last thing he said to her, before turning away, red cloak waving behind him like a banner.   
The roar of battle swept over the mountainside as blades crashed, cannons blistered and more arrows were launched. It was a fierce fight that sent Chinese soldiers toppling in the snow, and Hun riders rolling down the slopes to their bloody deaths. But the Chinese defence kept on, pressing their enemy further and further down the mountain, driving them back from the Imperial City. Shang and Ling fought side by side, in a glimmer of metal and fury, then it was Yao and Ling, with Shang and Chien-Po guarding their backs.   
Mulan did as she was ordered, and kept close to Shang, swiping her blade at the attacking Huns, clenching her stomach when she saw them fall to the ground, leaving blood on the snow. She stared at their bodies in disbelief, not sure she would never get over it. The snow ran red in blood, trailing rivers that slid down the face of the slope like tears, sometimes a blushing pink where it had soaked in with the white. But their defense was succeding, at a cost to their own number, the Huns began a slow retreat back north.   
Shang and her three friends had already dismounted, watching the Huns fall back, their buzzing cries fading farther and farther away in the distance. Mulan looked on in amazement, it had been a long bloody fight. But they had won.   
Then the cries and the clatter stopped, and a lone foot soldier lingered behind his fleeting comrades, making long motions with his arms that Mulan was too far away to make out. It all happened in the space of an instant, before he vanished in the sea of horses. Something whizzed across the sky and landed into her with an explostion of sharp and unimaginable pain. Mulan screamed as the impact threw her from her mount onto the snow. 

*** 

Walking to the kicthen table, Grandma Fa suddenly dropped the tea pot in her hand. It fell to the polished wooden floor with a loud clatter.   
Fa Li looked up from table in alarm. "Grandma, are you...?"   
"Mulan is in danger." The elderly woman intoned to the room.   
Several gasps escaped the lips of the dining family, the most startled coming from Fa Zhou who limped stiffly to his feet, shrugging off the helping arm of his fearful wife. "We must pray to the ancestors," he ordered, barely able to contain the panic in his voice.   
There was no bridge or pond in this household, making the temple a much shorter walk that was only over one low a grassy slope and up a shallow flight of stone steps. Fa Zhou traveled them with great difficulty, but he was determined to stand straight and confident before his wife and mother. The temple was much the same as the one they had built at the farm, lined with shiney stone tables that were carved with spirtual words and symbols. It was as good a place for prayer as any.   
Fa Zhou, his weeping wife, and Grandma Fa entered the place to stand next to his worried brother and their children who had not yet married. They sank as one to their knees, offering all the prayers they knew that would grant the safety to so beloved a child. 

*** 

When the family had gone, the ringing of a gong brought a finely fashioned dragon incense burner to life. Mushu leaped into the air only to skid on his behind over the smooth stone ground. The gong-ringer, a lucky cricket who was a hero in his own right, chirped scornfully at the dragon.   
"Mushu!" The majestic Great Ancester bellowed with impatience. "Mulan is in grave danger."   
The tiny red dragon stopped in his tracks, widening curious round eyes in confusion. For a wonder, his face turned very serious, "Danger? Did she go join the army again? That girl... I'm gonna... I shoulda told her NO MORE DRAG SHOW!" He shook a claw menacingly at his reflection in the stone. "Maybe we should tell that Captain to tie her up for her own good.... oh, no wait wait! She might like that..."   
The Great Ancestor had lost it completely "Mushu!" Kri-Kee thonked his gong over the dragon's head, smashing him flat on the ground.   
"You will go to Mulan's aid." The first gaurdian said with forced serenity. "And you will not fail."   
Mushu was still dazed from the blow. "I... willl... not.... fail. Hey!" He perked up suddenly, allowing himself to become three-dimensional again. "I save her, she saves him, they save China... makes me feel like part of the food Chain ag-" The Ancestor snatched the gong from Kri-Kee to swing at Mushu with it, sending him flying from the temple window onto the grass below.   
"That guy should be a bouncer," Mushu grumbled as he settled to his feet, trotting off in the speed only ancestor spirits could master. 

Chapter Nine   


Lowered to her belly in the snow, Mulan crawled towards the four of them, squeezing her eyes shut and groaning in the fiery pain that burst through her with each movement. Smears of blood trailed after her as she inched her way closer, sometimes clutching her hand to her shoulder than placing it down before her again to retrieve her balance. Seeing the arrow that stood out from her right shoulder, the four men rushed to the wounded girl, dropping together as one to their knees in the snow. Mulan gazed up at them in pleading, her paled face a picture of anguished shock. When she reached them, Mulan collapsed on her face, writhing onto her left side with a strangled cry as her fall stirred the arrow lodged inside her arm.   
"Yao, hold her!" Shang called out as he started towards Mulan. The burly man leaned Mulan against him, supporting her head as Shang rolled her over on her back, inspecting the wound. Mulan tried to concentrate on his face above her, as she struggled with the pain. The new snow had dusted his hair and cloak, but he was expressionless as ever.   
"Are we going to... pull this out?" Yao's voice trembled worriedly.   
The General shook his head, grimly studying the back of Mulan's shoulder. "If we do that, she'll bleed to death," he snapped, then addressed the man at his right. "Chien-Po, get the medical supplies. I'm going to find the doctor."   
Chien-Po scrambled to his feet to do as he was told, casting a last worried glance at his injured friend before bolting to the supply carts to gather the bags containing the necessary items. He carried them over to Shang, who rummaged through them for for a topical white powder he dusted over the torn skin, hastily wrapping fresh bandages around her wound, stabilizing the arrow. "If I keep this thing in place," he explained to Yao as he worked, "It will stop the blood flow for a little while." They all gazed at him trustingly, he was the only one with emergency medical training.   
Ling stared desperately at Shang as the General rose, solemnly taking Mulan into his arms from an equally solemn Yao. "You can't go," the thin man protested. "What if they come back? Who is going to lead us? Let the three of us take her. She's our friend too." Yao nodded, but in reluctance. He feared the worst, and did not want to be there to see it.   
Shang glanced down at the bloodied young woman in his arms, her drooping lids showed her slipping out of consciousness. Then he met the eyes of the two worried soldiers. "My horse is the fastest, I am just going to give her to the medic. By the time they came back, I will be here. Besides," he added, with a sober conviction. "If you are her friends than honor her, stand and fight. I have a different duty now." Ling and Chien-Po helped to secure the bags to his horse while Shang passed Mulan back to Yao as he mounted, only to receive her again in front of his saddle. Yao bent to kiss her head and Ling squeezed her hand. Chien-Po only looked on in silence, his eyes sunken as though he would to cry. "I should return in less than an hour," Shang informed the concerned trio. "Take charge while I'm gone. She has faith in you."   
The snow fell harder as Shang rode off, like a shower of thick white clouds dropping from the sky. The pale flourishes caught in her hair and floated around her. He tried to concentrate on the ground in from of him, not Mulan's waxen face. The medic was stationed in a safe little canyon shielded from view, the journey would take no more than a few moments. She would not die, Shang promised himself silently.   
Suddenly the snow streamed down with great force. The wind howled and whipped in a fury, swirling around him to sweep up the white power into a pale, blinding wall that blew before his eyes to banish any clarity of the path ahead. He could see nothing but white, stirring wildly and crashing against him like icy stones thrown from afar. Shielding the snow from his face with his gauntlet, he steadied Mulan with one arm and guided the horse with his knees, shivering at the burning sting where the frozen masses struck his skin. He rode on, seeing nothing but endless torrents of white, while his ears remained deaf to anything but the shrieking wind.   
A rage rolled over in his heart, with more force behind it then the angry gusts that summoned the snow to such violence. It was as if the gods had glimpsed his desperation to save this girl and mocked him somehow, testing his strength. He was a leader of brave men, and a better one by the day, but he was a poor servant when it came to his heart. Of all the things he had seen and done, of all the lives and deaths, he knew he could not fail himself now.   
He did not know how long he rode, it seemed like hours had been swallowed by that snow's fury, but perhaps it had been minutes. Shang swore, the storm would never calm in time for him to be back to the others.   
Then his eye caught a glimpse of darkness amid the light, merely a faint smear across so pale a field, but enough to capture his attention. Steering his mount easily, Shang changed directions, riding for that dim spark of hope floating not too far in the distance.   
The white whirlwind vanished entirely, and everything was quiet. Instead of snow, he was surrounded by darkness, not vast darkness for he could make out three rocky walls eight or teen feet away in each direction, but enough to tell him his prayers had been answered.   
Dismounting, Shang braced Mulan in one strong arm while he managed to fasten the horse's bridle to a jagged stump of rock sticking a part from the rest. He gently set Mulan on the ground of the small cave while he dug through the supplies for a pile of sticks and a circle of stones to build a fire, as well as fishing out more bandages, an array of ointments to make a poultice, and a small pot to boil water over the flames. Surveying the medicinal supplies briefly, Shang frowned. He was unsure of how acute his triage skills were, they were seldom used since had had obtained rank.   
Gathering the ointment and bandages, Shang knelt at Mulan's side, carefully lifting her head into his lap while he slowly unwrapped the red soaked cloth holding the arrow in place. A spreading circle of blood covered her entire shoulder, but a good deal of that had been smeared by her hand. The wound itself was not grave, the leather of her armor had prevented the shaft from penetrating too deeply into the muscle. The bleeding had receded somewhat, an affect of the herbal powder. If it was treated properly, Mulan would make a swift recovery. His immediate concern was removing the thing and keeping her comfortable.   
Mulan's eyelids fluttered and she groaned. "Stop," she winced in a weak voice.   
Wiping her face with his shirt sleeve, Shang frowned at her sadly. "I'm sorry, Mulan, but I have to." He threw the bloody bandage aside, his eyes still fixed on her. "Mulan, look at me." Shang ordered her gently. "Concentrate. Think of something pleasant." Waiting until her eyes brought him into focus, Shang gritted his teeth, then placed a steady hand where the head had entered her skin. Gripping the shaft with the other he snapped it in the middle. leaving just enough for a decent grasp.   
Flinching, Mulan released the breath she had been holding. "That didn't hurt a bit." She started to sit up, but Shang weighed her down again with a hand on her good shoulder.   
"Don't try to talk," he murmured. Then his fingers seized what remained of the arrow shaft, and in the timed instant after she took a breath, he quickly forced the blood painted length back from her shoulder, wincing at the ripping sound as the tip tore into flesh and muscle.   
Mulan's face transformed into a cringing rictus of horror, her body convulsing against him with a pained scream. He had never seen such an anguished expression in all his life. Upsetting as the picture was, Shang was not done. Taking the thin poker from the fire, Shang touched it to the flames, then slipped it under the tear in her shirt to apply it to the wound. This time, she could not even scream, tears only poured down her face. "It hurts," she sobbed. He tried to soothe her by holding her in one arm while she cried, but the pain had sent her rolling off his lap, lying face down on the ground.   
"I know," Shang consoled her quietly. "Let me see."   
When shock had held her still too faint to move, Shang leaned over her, gently unfastening her cloak and armor to pull her shirt down from her shoulder, revealing the new wound. The bleeding was not hard to control, in the skin for the most part. He quickly folded a clean bandage around her arm to apply gentle pressure. letting a disinfecting ointment set. Plenty of soldiers had survived worse, as long as the bleeding was stopped. As he held the wrapping firmly in place, Shang watched her with a guilty heart. For once, he did not care if China fell, he only cared that she was safe.   
"I feel so weak," Mulan groaned under her breath.   
Shang patted her gently with his free hand. "You'll be..."   
Then he picked up the broken arrow, the firelight had reflected a curious sheen on the head that had caught his eye. Looking closely at the arrow, Shang saw the tip was covered in a sticky coating he was certain had not come from blood. Raising it to his mouth, Shang tasted it fearfully, his heart sinking as he did so. Poison.   
"I feel like I'm going to die," she continued in a weak voice. "... so sick...."   
"I told you not to talk!" Shang growled at her, furious. "You'll survive, Mulan. That's an order! Mulan...?" He shook her as firmly as he dared in her condition. "Mulan...?" Panic lay ahold of him. He was not a man to panic. "That's an order, Mulan! Do you hear me?"   
He stopped shouting, realizing she had passed out. 

*** 

Mushu halted in the blinding snow when saw the glare of firelight coming from a tiny cave hidden in the mountain side. What was it about Mulan and snow disasters? Moving closer, Mushu saw the white horse standing patiently inside and knew immediately that Shang was with her. Mushu neither loved nor hated Shang, but he know that Mulan loved him, and more than that Fa Zhou had told him what he and the new General had discussed that night at dinner.   
The unconscious Mulan lay on her stomach while the General looked over her, his face a mixture of panic and confusion. Shang was so lost in his vigil over Mulan that he did not notice the sleek red blur entering the cave. But Mushu was grim as well to see her so.   
"I can help," the little dragon spoke softly to the solemn officer, whose pained gaze was so livid with intensity Mushu thought Shang would try to wake her with his will. It took a moment for the General to break away from Mulan, and upon diverting his attention to the speaker, Shang shook his head to dismiss what he saw before him, as if he feared it were an illusion born of his despair. One in a parade of many, by his eyes.   
"Who, or what are you?" The General spoke with hesitation, unsure if another being was truly there or not. Was he so mad with worry?   
"A friend of Mulan's," he answered simply, in no mood for his usual wise cracks. "And a guardian of the Fa family,"   
Those serious dark eyes brightened for a moment, but they regained their usual gravity when he turned back to Mulan, mumbling, "How do I know you are telling the truth?" In light of the situation, the dragon resolved not to be offended.   
Mushu scooted over to the grieving General, creeping closer to have a look at Mulan. Her exhausted face and posture reminded him the day she had collapsed on the cliffs of Wu Zhong, weary of hefting those weights on her small shoulders. Mushu related the memory to Shang, how he had scrambled into her shirt when Shang came to take the burden from Mulan's defeated hands. He told him his name, and Shang now understood why Mulan had murmured "Mushu" at their first meeting when it was not her own name. By this time, Shang was willing to listen.   
"So she has a guardian," He gave a half hearted laugh, then grimaced. He was hurt. "She could have told me."   
Mushu did not know if Shang meant about having a dragon, or about being a girl.   
"She could not risk it," Mushu defended his troublesome charge. "She loves her family's honor more than she loves you." It was like throwing a pebble at a bolder, shattering nothing. Honor was Shang's greatest love, Mushu thought he agreed now that this man would have understood Mulan's secret.   
"The arrow was poisoned," sighed the General. "If we do not find an antidote within a day, she will die." There was little emotion in those words when he spoke them, but Mushu could see the struggle below the surface.   
The red dragon frowned, bowing his head shamefully. "I'm supposed to protect her," he berated himself. "Some Fa family guardian..."   
"You can get the antidote," Shang snapped, impatient with the creature's self pity. "Any medic will have it."   
Mushu looked up as if the idea had never occurred him before. He should have expected as much from this man. Shang was courageous to a fault, he would never remain her to let her die while a spark of hope still glimmered within his reach. But Mushu knew why he had to be the one to go, and not only because he could hop about from place to place, Shang wanted to stay here with her.   
"Alright," Mushu agreed. "I'll be back in two hours. No, less than that!" Yanking the guardian to his feet, Shang pushed him towards the cave entrance. "I'll be back!' Resuming his usual sinuous saunter, Mushu stalked off out of the cave.   
Shang went as far as the entrance, looking after the little red figure than soon vanished into the whirling blizzard outside. "Hurry!" The General called after him, standing there a few long moments with his head bowed, praying. 

*** 

Mulan still lay unconscious when Shang ducked back inside, he only glanced briefly in her direction before building up the fire again. It was important that she was kept warm. Out of the bags, he collected a pile of mats and blankets to construct a make shift palette for her on the floor, carrying her over with great care and leaving her to sleep. He set himself to boiling more bandages, using a bladder of boiled water that was one of many kept with medical supplies. Shang found himself performing every idle task that could be named to distract himself from his worry.   
But there could not be so much need for dread, a spiritual guardian could not fail.   
Then he heard Mulan cough, and, dropping the bandages, rushed to her side.   
When he loomed closer, she flinched, startled. Her eyes were glazed over as though dreaming, yet they held him clearly in focus. "I've... got a name," she whispered slowly with panic. "And it's a boy's name, too."   
Shang felt his knees thud on the ground beside her, they were the words she had spoken the first day they met at the training camp. That seemed a long time ago.   
"Mulan... ?" But she was too delirious to hear.   
Then she turned her head to him. "Shang," her clouded eyes brightened for a moment with pleading, as desperate words tumbled from her mouth in a drowsy murmur. "I did it to save my father. I didn't mean for it to go this far, it was the only way... Please... you have to... " The words trailed off as Mulan closed her eyes. He glimpsed the tears standing in them, then her pained shallow breathing was the only sign of life left in her.   
He stiffened, drawing back from the palette as he made himself remember with her. He recalled his shock as her blanket slid away to reveal a young woman's form, and the rage in his heart that "Ping" had been a lie. There she was again in his mind, kneeling bravely in the snow, able to meet the eyes of her would be executioner with a proud acceptance of her defeat as she bowed her head. Her delicate beauty had struck him then for the first time, prying open his hand and sending that sword clattering to the ground, and had haunted him every moment thereafter. No, he had no intention, he knew that now. At the time it was the only way he could save her from Chi Fu and the law. It was all he could do   
But the memory hurt him. Shang wanted so much to believe he did everything for the right reasons, yet somehow he knew he had hurt her then unforgivably. How could anything be right when he had done that?   
She was not brave now, but a startling portrait of weakness with her lank hair and eyes that looked as though she had suffered illness for many months. The poison did its work faster than he thought. Now, those lifeless eyes seemed to blame him. There seemed no other emotion in the world but the guilt of his little lie. The Emperor had never sent for Mulan, Shang had been the one to ask if he could take her along, to avoid the many months of separation. After all this time, she had become a dream he could never let go of yet did not know how to grasp in the first place, and now she was going to die, before he had the chance.   
Pressing his lips to her damp forehead, Shang blinked back tears. I love you, he let the thought torment him over and over again as she slept. 

Chapter Ten   


Shang spent the next hour on his knees beside Mulan. Her head hot with fever, despite the cold compresses he had applied to her forehead. That was only for comfort though while she slept, nothing but the proper medicine could cure the sickness in her veins.   
She had slept for nearly the entire hour, but when her eyes did open they were much clearer than before. Shang shoved away the sting of hope in his heart, he knew she would alternate between delirium and moments of great clarity. The fever had broken for now, but it would return. He wished the little dragon would be quicker about his task.   
"Shang?" Mulan blinked at the man above her as though she could not decide if she was awake or dreaming. He reached down to her hold her chilled hand, which he realized was quite dainty and frail, even for a woman's. She favored him with a weak smile.   
He smiled back, trying to be confident. "You'll be alright, Mulan. Mushu has come to help you." Mention of that name spread the smile wider on her face, her eyes sparkled briefly. Shang was glad to see it, but he did not dare tell her where the dragon and really gone. "He went to get Khan," Shang lied.   
She blinked again, groggily soaking up the words, taking long moments to decipher their meaning. The poison had left her weak and tired. "Shang," she seemed to have forgotten Mushu entirely now, her eyes were filled with a sudden determination as she looked over at him. "I'm sorry I lied to you, about who I was. Forgive me, please." It was strange, but fragile and pale as she was now her eyes held a quiet dignity in their plight. She had never appeared to him that way before.   
But did she not know that he had long since forgiven her? That he had never really been angry with her in the first place? That if he had been in her place, he would have done the same? How could one woman be so brave, so lovely, and yet so blind? He had tried to show her his feelings in subtle ways to see how she felt in turn, but she never did quite respond to them, except for the day she had kissed him in the village. The Emperor's words as Mulan departed had filled Shang's heart with hope. But she deserved happiness, and he wanted to be sure she found that with him before he spoke of them to her.   
"Mulan I would never have hurt you," Shang insisted quietly, hoping to convince her. "I was angry at the law, and Chi-Fu, not what you had done." His grip on her hand tightened, she was listening intently. "I did the best I could, the only thing I could, to spare you." She made no outward sign of protest, but he could only hope that she believed him. He sighed, a confession deserved another confession. Only this one was worse. "I've lied to you too, Mulan." Her eyebrows raised, her pale face appeared startled. "The Emperor was not the one to request your presence, I was. I did not want to go to war without you."   
He expected her to be angry, braced himself for the harsh words that would fall heavier on him than any snowstorm. But there was none. Instead, the most radiant smile he had ever seen spread across her lips. Shang shook his head, he did not understand her.   
And then she whispered faintly to him. "Kiss me."   
Obediently, Shang lowered his head...   
"Oh Hey... what? OH! Ha! don't mind me I just brought the- " The General stood up when she saw the crimson flash stalking into the cave, hefting a bulky cloth pouch in his front claws. Shang took from him, emptying it of the small vial which contained Mulan's salvation. He brought her a cup of water, pouring the thick dark liquid inside and pushed the cup into Mulan's hands, helping her to sit up with his free arm. "Drink this," he instructed. "It will help with the pain."   
Mulan wrinkled her nose at the mixture, which smelled strongly of pungent herbs, before glancing back up at Shang. "But I'm not in any..."   
"You have to drink it, Mulan!" the dragon blurted out, visibly panicked. "It's the anti-" With an abrupt move, Shang had the creature strangled in his fist, squeezing him to silence. She did not need to know.   
This time, Mulan did as she was told, emptying the cup down her parched throat, then clutching the thing in her hands as she fell forward in a furious coughing fit. Shang dropped Mushu to the floor, who exchanged a frightened look with him, he steadied her with both arms as she choked on the liquid.   
"Mulan...?" The dragon and Shang cried to her in unison.   
"It... tastes... vile," She managed between coughs, wiping at her mouth with all the strength her tired body could gather. Relieved, Shang withdrew his hands, letting her drop back onto the palette with a groan. Recovering herself, Mulan asked in a raspy voice. "Where's Khan?"   
Shang spread his hands to offer an explanation, but Mushu beat him in speaking. "Khan? Khan's where you left him. I was only supposed to get the-" He screamed when Shang stomped on him with his shoe.   
"You were supposed to get the horse." He completed the sentence.   
When Shang removed his foot, Mushu's eyes were bulging. He waited for his proper shape to fill him again before dancing around Shang in a challenge, showing his teeth. "You told me to go find the-"   
"I told you to get Khan!" He roared, sorely losing his patience.   
Mulan blinked from one to the other in disbelief. Had the drug been so strong... ?   
"Oh." was all the dragon was capable of saying. Then his eyes lit up as he saw Shang's tender glance at Mulan. The General veiled many things behind his solemnity. "Ooh," It was starting to set in. "Ooooooh. I thought you said 'don't get conned'." Shang sighed with exasperation, the stories had said dragons were reputed to be wise.   
"Which one of you is lying to me?" The question encompassed the two of them, but her eyes singled out Shang. The drug had been potent, transforming her from weak to very energetic. She tried to get up, to add emphasis to her point, but Shang waved her off so imperiously she sank back into the blankets with a pout.   
"Alright we're both lying!" Mushu admitted with a shout. Shang threatened him with a too calm elevation of his brow, but the dragon continued. "Mr. Li here didn't send me out to find the horse. He sent me to check on the troops, and look for Huns. Guess he kinda recruited me, eh?" Saluting Shang with his claw, Mushu threw himself to the floor, doing push ups. "Let me tell you what I found, sir yes sir!" He suddenly was standing at attention. "There's a whooooole bunch of 'em out there comin' round the mountain from the North. They'll be here in another day. A whooooole 'nother army, and some guy that I seen with Shan-Yu is leading them." Flexing as if he had muscles, Mushu did a rather uninspiring rendition of a roar.   
Shang's mouth set in a grim line. "Bayar," he murmured. "My father said he was second in command, but hardly seen during the attacks. I remember him at the Palace." He had been one of the ones to leap out of the dragon, hardly a man to be reckoned with, unless you were a soldier in a dress with a melon handy.   
"And your soldiers are out there!" Mushu exploded. "Like roses for the pickin'"   
Mulan's face was painted with worry, her tone urgent. "Shang you must go back to lead them. If you stay here with me China will fall. Go out there."   
Stubbornly the General shook his head. He was not going to leave her, nor was China going to fall. "Mushu is right. It will take them a day. By that time we'll both go, but tonight you can rest here." Propping his chin in his hand, Shang sifted through what he remembered of the books and maps he had studied in training. "Mushu will have to carry the plan to the soldiers tonight, they must be ready." It would have to be a great plan, one Mulan might think up herself. China must not fall, Shang chanted to himself silently. He could not let the others stand witness to the degree of his worry.   
"What plan?" Mulan snapped in annoyance. "Tell our friends to hide? That's about all we can do against them without a leader. You must- "   
He did not hear the rest of her sentence, his eyes lit up and a broad smile appeared on his face. The girl was a jewel, truly she was. "That's right," he nodded, smiling very proudly at Mulan. She and Mushu both looked at him as if he had grown horns. "Mushu will tell them to hide in the snow. Hide everything. Let them think we have retreated. Go Mushu." He ordered his newest "scout", ceremoniously raising one gauntleted hand towards the entrance of the cave.   
The dragon started to where he had been directed, then stopped his tracks, pivoting to face Shang. "What is good is that gonna do?" Patiently, oh so patiently, Shang deigned to elaborate for Mulan's irksome little guardian.   
Mushu's face shone with an elated grin as well, he strode out of the cave in a commanding stance that would have done Shang proud.   
When the dragon had gone, Shang carefully pulled back Mulan's shirt collar to examine the wound - she had kicked off the bottom part of her outfit in the heat of her delirium. She did not fuss this time, as the initial pain had long since passed. The area was still quite red and tender, which was as expected, but it had already begun to scab over and the bleeding had stopped. Really, it was not as bad as it had first looked, the arrow having been smaller than the ones the Chinese used. It would be weeks before she could use the arm normally again, but by tomorrow she would be well enough to return to the men. He mixed her a fresh blend of ointments and applied them as gently as he could to the wound. Her eyes watered at the sting of the medicines, but she underwent the discomfort bravely, not the he would expect anything different from her. All the while he could not help but admire the softness of her ivory skin left unexposed to the sun, and the tranquil beauty of her trusting eyes as he took all care not to hurt her with his ministrations. He was trying to be so many things to her now, a doctor, a friend, a leader, but the more entranced he became by the sight of her lying there, the more difficult it was to be anything but a man admiring a woman. Her beauty was heartbreaking.   
"What did I drink, Shang," her soft voice interrupted his thoughts suddenly.   
"An antidote," he heard himself say, not having the heart to lie to her. He felt as though he had lied to her for so long. "That arrow was poisoned."   
She looked understandably alarmed, but he gently brushed the damp hairs that had clung to the side of her face. "You'll be alright now," he whispered. "You'll be alright." Her eyelids fluttered, and she attempted a wan smile. Shang could see she still very tried. 

Chapter Eleven   


Then Shang removed his shirt and slipped off his shoes, pulling the blanket back to slide in beside her. A darting memory flashed before her eyes, so vivid in its clarity. She saw him again, rising from the water, the perfect details of her memory's portrait warming the blood in her veins. Mulan swallowed awkwardly, did he not realize how hard it was for her to be close to him when all she could think of was that?   
"You have to stay warm," he explained, too casually. "Come here." he added, holding out an arm to her. He must have realized this was very improper, wounded or no.   
Mulan nervously inched her way towards him, letting her head fall on the hard muscle of his shoulder as he draped his arm over her to prevent her from rolling onto her bad arm. She settled easily into his embrace, but her heart was restless.   
"Sleep," he commanded, but softly. "You have to learn to make your body go to sleep." That reminded her of Chien Po, she smiled for a brief moment, before she realized her frustration again..   
How could he lay there next to her and feel nothing? How could he, when the feel of him had clouded her mind with a thousand curious desires at once? But no matter what he felt, Shang would never let it show. He was a man of strict discipline. She could dream though, she could fill her dreams with a handsome man holding out his arms to her as he waded in the lake, of a...   
Sleep crashed over her, pulling her under waves of dark oblivion.   
The crashing of thunder woke her, shaking the tiny cave as the clouds exploded overhead. It took her a moment to decide it was thunder, the pounding rang in her ears like cannon fire and she dreamed herself on the field again. Then she felt the warmth of a strong arm wrapped around her shoulders, and opened her eyes to stare up at Shang, laying awake beside her. She remembered everything now, the battle, the arrow and the place he had taken her for shelter.   
Shang's dark eyes scolded her the same way they had when he had caught her sticking arrows in her targets during her first training. "Go back to sleep, Mulan." But she could tell his heart was not in it this time.   
"The storm has gotten worse," she whispered, ignoring what he had said.   
His hand came up to stroke her hair gently. Mulan smiled, somehow his soothing little gestures were better than a kiss. "The storm has passed," he informed her patiently. Mulan's smile faded into a grimace.   
"They're out there." It was not a question, but an observation quietly delivered with a tinge of fear and helplessness. The clammer of hooves still shook from above, seemingly without end. "There must be thousands of them." And China's troops were left without a commander. "Do you think our plan will work?"   
Taking his arm from around her, Shang reached up to touch her cheek softly, reassuringly. "I think you need your rest now." Was all he said.   
"What about you?" she protested again, trying to hide what his touch sparked in her. "If there is nothing to worry about then why are you still awake?"   
He blinked, obviously not expecting to be challenged, but quickly came up with something flippant. "Well I didn't stay awake who would make sure you went to sleep? Besides, I am only watching over you."   
Gently curling her fingers around his hand, she lowered it from her face, slipping closer until her lips coyly pressed against his. At first he seemed surprised by her forwardness, then he was responding to her kiss with a warmth and depth she had come to associate with him. But in another moment, Shang had both hands through her hair, gently holding her back from him.   
"Mulan..." he protested quietly, but she could not let his sense of propriety stop her.   
She let her own hand rest on his chest, inching closer until she was snugly pressed against him from her breast to her bare thigh. She was quite aware of her own reaction to such nearness, and felt herself tremble when she realized he was as well. Despite her inexperience, a wicked smile bloomed across her features. Then she stared into his eyes, her heart open and without shame, and when his gaze answered hers Mulan recalled what he had said long ago about being on fire within. It was certainly apparent now. The Huns were out there, and they could die tomorrow. Tonight seemed too precious a chance to waste. A woman soldier could not be bound by the rules other women were, she was hardly a prospective wife anyway.   
Seizing her advantage, Mulan offered her lips to him again. This time his kiss was deeper, more rough. He let his hands trail from her hair down her back to unwrap the robe she wore and peel the thick cloth from her shoulders. A shallow cry escaped her lips as his hands gently caressed her back, a cry that was swallowed by their grinding lips. There was a kind of hunger in his kiss, as if the long weeks of warfare had left him cold inside and she was the sun that would give him warmth again.   
Then Shang drew back from her once more, his heart revealed in his eyes. "Mulan, listen to me..."   
She tried to silence him by placing her fingers against his lips. But he only silenced her in turn by kissing them, one at a time.   
"The Emperor has given his blessing," Shang said to her, their lips nearly touching. "When we return to the Imperial City, it would honor me to make you my bride."   
Her eyes widened into a joyful sparkle, and without another word Mulan kissed him her consent with all the emotion her heart had held back for so long. A sense of relief accompanied her joy, there was no need to worry about dishonoring her family. He wrapped her firmly in his arms, rolling her beneath him on the blankets, the strong weight of his body igniting every inch of her own. Mulan's skin burned with curiosity, no man had ever touched her intimately before, she was impatient to discover what it would be like. Tingles coursed through her skin as his lips fed on the sensitive skin of her neck with tender care, and when they slid lower to cover her flesh, sharp pains of pleasure exploded in the pit of her stomach, drawing soft cries from her lips.   
Then his lips covered hers again and her returning kiss was intense, she threw her head to one side with a sharp cry. It was not exactly pain, but the force of too acute sensations heightened by a mixture of emotions, Mulan thought after all her experiences in the army that she knew men, traveling with them for so long. But it was not until she felt him there inside her center that she really understood him. Most of all it was real faithfullness with which he looked upon her now, a desire for her body not because it was female, but because it was hers. She let her eyes fall closed, languishing in the warmth spreading through her limbs. Marriage had presented scant interest to her as a child, but now she was aware of its advantages.   
When Shang's head fell on her chest, she stroked his hair gently, both of them catching their breath. "For what it's worth..." Shang began, turning his head to direct a playful wink in Mulan's direction. "I think you'll be a great wife."   
Mulan smiled at him and kissed the top of his head. He rolled over on his back and pulled her against him. Let the Huns come, Mulan thought as the pair drifted off to sleep against one another, she had had her fill of victory tonight.   
An hour before sunrise, she awoke to him shaking her. Opening her eyes she found him fully dressed with fresh treatments for her wound. "How are you feeling?" he asked, wrapping the new meters of cloth around her shoulder.   
"Much better." She smiled dreamily.   
"That's good," He eyed her sideways with a smirk, pretending not to notice what she meant. "I have a hundred servants in my house, there will be no excuse for you to keep from resting. Your body still needs more time to recover. Besides, a wife of mine is far above silly training and deserves more than the hard life of a soldier."   
Mulan sniffed. "I'm not a princess," she said dryly.   
"Thank the gods," was all he said before helping her into her clothes.   
Climbing in front of Shang in the saddle, Mulan looked back at their little shelter before they galloped off into the snow. She had little memory of the storm Shang had described to her, but was glad to see all had settled into a thick white blanket again, with only a subtle wind pushing around the stray flurries. Sitting up was less than comfortable, thankfully Shang was behind her to hold her weight against him. Her right arm was useless for the most part, but that was not so terrible since she was left handed. Unconsciously, he would tighten his grip on her and she would smile. Mulan knew the Huns were advancing, but being in his presence refused to allow her to be afraid. She had never been afraid when she was with him   
When they reached the ground where the Imperial Army had once camped, the scene was completely deserted. The wind rustled the canopies of abandoned carts, and grazed over random supplies where they lay scattered in the snow. But amid the emptiness and remains, not one soldier, nor horse, nor weapon could be seen. It was as if all life had been buried under those newly fallen piles of snow.   
Both Mulan and Shang smiled. The plan would work beautifully.   
They galloped closer, behind a bank, Shang's white horse blending easily into their surroundings. The Huns were famed as scouts, enemy eyes could be anywhere around them. Neither had donned the conspicuous crimson cape this morning "Dragon!" Mulan called out to the emptiness.   
A gravely voice answered her, muffled behind a puff of snow a few feet away. "Fire!"   
Three men emerged from their cover of snow, one thin, one short, and the other round. They dropped to the ground, inching forward on their bellies like misshapen serpents wriggling through grass, or clouds rather. Shang helped Mulan down from the saddle, quickly ducking behind the color blending shield of the stallion. It was hard for her to crawl with the wound, but Shang helped her with an arm around her waist as they slid to meet the advancing trio.   
"Mulan!" Yao was the first to reach her, stretching out his paw like hand to grab hers. "We thought you two..." Ling stopped at his shoulder, smiling at Mulan.   
"She's alright." Shang assured them, releasing his grip to let Yao and Ling help her to a kneeling position behind the bank. He did not seem to care what they made of him holding her in such a familiar way, in fact, Mulan doubted he even noticed. "But she'll have to do something other than fighting." Chien-Po was the last to reach her, quietly smiling at his wounded friend.   
A red flash caught three pairs of eyes, emerging from Yao's collar. Mulan grimaced, Mushu was so fickle. "You finally made it! I thought I was gonna have to use this army to find you. Now we can kick some Hunnie bun!!" He paraded around in circles, making punching motions to the air. "Left! Right! Left!" Mulan seized him in her fist, shoving him over the back of her good shoulder. The movement reminded her of how fragile her injury still was. Shang and Ling reached out at the same time to inquire if she was alright. Mulan shrugged both their hands away, there were more important things to be about than doting on her silly wound.   
"We've hid the flint, cannons, arrows, everything," Yao reported. "And we have men covering every inch of ground from all directions. If we have to run out there, we're got them as spaced out as possible. Groups are easy targets, but one man's a waste of an arrow." Shang directed a proud smile at the usually defiant man, they had finally learned something from him that did not involve punches and kicks.   
"Mulan," The General turned back to her with concerned eyes. "You stay here close to Chien-Po, Mushu can help you light the arrows, but don't move more than five feet away from here unless Chien-Po's with you. That's an order." She bit her lip, glaring fiercely at him. It was an order for her safety, but she did not like being confined when her friends would be in danger. He was hardly paying attention to her anymore though. "Ling, you run the fastest, you carry arrows and cannons if the men need them. Yao, you give the order to fire. All of you stay low, don't let them see you."   
Mulan looked up at Shang worriedly. "What about you?" she asked nervously.   
His eyes panned the empty blanket of snow stretched out before him, taking in every pile and bank that concealed China's finest troops from enemy eyes. Shang was a brave man, willing to lay down his life for China and his men. But Mulan feared the longing in his gaze as he studied the preparations made for such a glorious plan. The problem was, Shang loved honor so much he often risked his life foolishly for what he believed was right and fair.   
"I am going down there with my men," he answered her in a solid tone that said nothing could change his mind. "Not all of us can stay hidden for very long. Someone has to fight." Mulan wondered why bravery was such a close companion of foolishness.   
She could not argue with him in front of his troops, and maybe in truth he was quite right. Shang had always understood necessity and the greater good better than she. Before he mounted his horse, Shang gave Mulan's hand a final squeeze accompanied by a long look that tugged at her heart. Her fingers dropped away from his in what seemed like slow motion, one by one, as if he had been torn away from her as she studied the familiar seriousness in his eyes. Why did it haunt her as if it were a good bye? His face looked the same as it had when he had held the sword over her head. She shivered.   
Soon Shang had disappeared behind the tall bank that rose even high enough to veil a rider from view. For long moments Mulan stared after him sadly, trying to swallow her worry. Mushu was curiously silent, but clung to her shoulder as he too watched. Mulan suspected he could think of nothing comforting to say.   
There was nothing to do but wait for the Huns to come.   
***   
Shang took cover at the head of his troops easily, ducking between tall men who were fully armored and strapped with swords and quivers. There position left little to be desired, at the base of one great slope while still hid behind another. Even with the horses, the Huns or the spies could not separate them from the rock peaking out of the snow and the shadows, even if they did decide to change direction. That was unlikely though, since they were too great in number to manage that easily. They would come from the North, and when they did his troops would be ready.   
Glancing over his shoulder, Shang was unhappy that his vantage point did not allow him a clear view of Mulan. But he had left her in the safest place he could, and he would have to trust Chien-Po. The tranquil soldier turned out to be a man of fine judgment, in Shang's opinion, and was the only one among the three friends who was not a troublemaker. Even Mulan had been a troublemaker in the grandest sense. Chien-Po was as good a choice as he had available for a protector, but Shang wished it did not seem as if he were trusting the man with his life.   
"Glad you're back, sir" One of men called beside him. He was sitting with his back leaned against the rock, one knee drawn up to balance the stone he was using to sharpen a pair of knives.   
"You should have brought Mulan up here with you," the one to his other side said, stretched out on his stomach as he watched the top of the slope. "Who'd have thought a girl would be such a big help to China." Shang fixed the fool with his hardest stare.   
The first man paused on his knife. "You gonna marry her, sir?"   
Annoyed, Shang sprawled out beside the second man. "Hurry up with that!" He growled at the first. "And get down, before you get killed."   
Just as the words had left his mouth, the pounding of hooves thrummed from atop the slope, echoing like endless clouds of thunder. A soft whizzing buzzed around his ears, and when Shang glanced up, the sky was so thick with arrows he could no longer see the clouds. "Get down!" Shang screamed at the men behind him. He dropped face down in the snow, under the cover of the bank.   
***   
"Fire!" Yao called to the company of archers that had risen no higher than their knees. A volley of fiery arrows soared across the sky. The Huns had wasted most of their arrows with their first charge over the slope. Yao could not see where the enemy had positioned their archers, but he could clearly see that their first attempt had struck nothing of the Chinese troops.   
Huns screamed and toppled from their mounts as the arrows rained down, striking their flesh or that of their ponies. By the time they were able to uncover the hiding place, it would be too late for them and Shang's men would be ready. Ling scrambled over on elbows and knees burdened by several quivers of arrows, he even toted two full quivers in his mouth. Yao yanked them away without looking, and Ling yelled some kind of angry threat. But this was no time for games. He sent the lanky man scrambling back through the snow for more arrows, the supplies had been kept at an even distance between his men and Chien-Po's, while the rest had been distributed among the others further down the bank. He had no idea why he had all of sudden stumbled into a sort of leadership position among the troops, that was Shang's doing, but so far he had not faired too terribly at it.   
Ordering another round of arrows through the sky, Yao rubbed his hands together in disbelief as more Huns tumbled to the ground. There may have been more of them, but these weren't so tough as Shan-Yu's troops.   
***   
With a little puff from Mushu, the arrows flamed in the bows of the poised archers leaning against the bank. Mulan was surprised at how quickly the Hun ranks had fallen. At least a third of them lay in the snow, some clutching arrows only to burn their hands on the shafts, while others sprawled out lifelessly in unnatural positions. Cannons were fired further away and after the smoke from several explosions was blown away by the wind, Mulan felt her stomach clench to see men - and pieces of men - littered across the snow, spreading riverlets of red melting together and staining the white bank. She tried to avert her eyes, but the carnage was everywhere she looked, even the smeared fingerprinting of crimson on white lingered behind her eyelids when she tried to shut away the view. They were the enemy, true, but they were still people.   
The loud crackling of cannons and the rush of flying arrows crashed painfully in her ears, she wanted to cover them with her hands and crawl away from the madness. But she could not, her hands were burdened by the task of stringing more bows to pass to the archers. It seemed a menial task, but it was both the best she could manage with her wound and help in maintaining the pace of the assault. Chien-Po knelt close at her side, pulling back his bowstrings to release a flaming row of arrows into the air, he said nothing to her but kept his eyes focussed on his fast moving targets. It was useless, but Mulan could not help herself, she kept sorting with her eyes through the Huns and snow, searching for Shang.   
***   
Lifting his head, Shang saw the Hun army had been decimated by half - a demise much superior to the expectations of his original calculations. The best part was, his troops had kept the sky so thick with arrows and smoke, their enemy had not the vaguest idea where the Chinese had placed themselves. All of his men were fine archers, their ability to launch an arrow so far above their heads at such low ground had kept the Huns looking higher in the mountains for the men behind the onslaught. From a rider's perspective, there did not seem to be enough room between banks for men to hide. Shang was fortunate for that snowstorm, it was transformed such simple terrain into a strategist's dream. And he was fortunate for Mulan for planting this idea in his mind. He had never really thanked her for all the brave things she had done for him and his men, he would not neglect to do so this time.   
Half he waited for another round of arrows, and then another. More men fell to the bloody snow, groaning and struggling with inevitable death. The Huns were too arrogant for armor, and burning shafts extended from their bodies as they rolled over on the ground, scotching their hands when they tried to pull the arrows free. The spectacle should have been glorious to Shang's eyes, but in the very bottom of his heart he found the sight of the dead and the dying rather sickening.   
"Are we gonna go out there, sir?" The soldier's knives and stone still lay before him, he had thrown them down in haste when Shang had ordered them to take cover. Both he and his friend were pressed closely to either side of Shang.   
Another flourish of cannon smoke cleared, now the number had decreased to a third.   
"Get ready,"   
The two soldiers felt over themselves as they lay there, taking a final inventory of weapons. Shang reached to his side for his sword hilt, drawing it in the same instant he bounded to his feet. The two men were right behind him, swinging into their mounts, followed by the company of soldiers.   
Shang raised his sword and led the charge out onto the open snow. "Now!"   
***   
"Hold your fire!" Yao ordered the men with a sharp gesture. He did not know where he learned that little embellishment, probably from watching the General. The arrows and explosions quieted. giving way to a tense emptiness in the air as columns of riders suddenly appeared out of the snow as if they had been buried under it. Shang was leading them as expected, holding his sword aloft as he galloped fearlessly toward the Huns. The man was crazy, Yao decided, who was quite content to remain under the safety of the snow bank. He was no judge of such things, but Yao supposed the brave spectacle of the General riding so proudly into battle would send Mulan swooning so much her heart would melt the snow. Apparently Mulan had a soft spot for crazy young officers.   
The Huns jerked around in shock at the advancing party on horseback, waving their blades and growling viciously at the Chinese. They blows were well countered though, and more Huns were dismounted to add to the collection in the snow. The battle was a slaughter, with few Chinese among the dead.   
***   
Digging into his horse's heels, Shang bounded forward for the Huns, slashing frantically to the right and left with his sword. They fell all around them, and behind him where his men trailed with their own blades. Victory was upon him, though it left a bitter taste in his mouth, a bitter metallic taste as he glimpsed the blood coating the ground.   
Then the remaining enemy split their formation in two, allowing a lone rider to break through their ranks, waving a sword through the air. He was a massive man, a half a foot taller than Shang who had been considered quite tall among his people, the fur and jagged edge of his blade proclaiming him the leader of the barbarian pack. Bayar, his name was, and Shang clashed his blade with the thrusting one in good time to spare his life.   
"Well met, General," the new Hun leader sneered, his wolf like features pulled taught into a sickly rictus of bloodlust and rage. He struck again, but Shang moved his horse expertly between his knees, using both hands on his sword to slash the blade away from his heart. "You'll need the girl," Bayar patronized. "Isn't she the one who helps you get out of these little messes alive?"   
Shang responded to the taunt with a stroke of his weapon, slicing a handsome gash down the Hun's chest. Fools, that's what armor was for.   
His opponent affected not to notice the copious river of blood beginning to gush thickly down his torso. Arrogance was a fatal flaw, he should have learned that from his teacher. Attacking again, Shang dealt him a series of cuts that the quick loss of blood left him too weak to fend off. Bayar was unsteady, swaying in his saddle as he flailed dizzily with the sword in his hand. Shang advanced again, knocking the weapon from his loosening grip. At least Shan-Yu had taught Shang one useful trick. The sword clattered to the ground, leaving Bayar defenseless. With a strangled roar, or was it a squeal? Bayar tumbled from his mount, collapsing into the snow and bouncing over unto his back, leaving a large imprint of blood where he had first landed. Shang made himself watch the Hun with the coldest stare he could manage. He had the heart to let him live, but the wounds would not. It was all over, China had won.   
Sheathing the blood stained blade, Shang turned his reins away from Bayar's corpse, riding towards Mulan and the others. Once again, one of her ingenious little plans had saved them all.   
***   
Mulan watched in disbelief as the few surviving Huns left their dead behind to retreat into the mountains. She had never believed Shang's plan would work so quickly, in fact she had anticipated long days of battle to hold the Pass. It was still hard to see the corpses and the bloodshed, but the sight became easier when she saw the tall rider on the white horse galloping towards them.   
Mushu had jumped onto the snow, dancing his victory dance in goofy circles before her and Chien-Po. "We won! We won!" he chanted, letting out an utterly exalted, "Woo hoo!" as he capered about.   
Chinese soldiers began rising above the snow, dropping armloads of arrows and cannons on the ground as they rushed to congregate where Mulan and Chien-Po waited. Yao and Ling broke to the front of the group, elbowing each other to be the first to reach their two friends. Mulan rose to her feet when Shang dismounted, walking towards them. They shared a confident smile before he turned to his troops. There was much hugging and cheering, and manly congratulatory pats between the soldiers, but Mulan cleverly managed to slip next to Shang amid all the celebration.   
"They'll be gone for good now," Yao grinned, rubbing his hands in the usual fashion.   
Shang shook his head, glancing over at the retreating party. "They'll be back," he told Yao quietly. "Maybe not soon, but someday. And when they do, let's hope there is someone like Mulan around." The soldiers cheered her emphatically, Chien-Po leaned over to give her a hug. Mulan turned to Shang, speechless. He was crediting her? But all she had done was tell Mushu to ask her friends to hide.   
"I didn't even a fire a single cannon," Mulan challenged her praise to the men. The soldiers looked at Mushu, then at Shang, and finally back at her. Mushu had told them it was both their plan. That was fair, she supposed.   
"We ride for the Imperial City," Shang announced with a sweeping gesture towards the other side of the mountain. He had developed such a grand manner of saying that.   
Mulan walked with Shang a little ahead of the party. She did not know who had been caring for Khan all this time, but Ling handed the reins to her. The horse neighed angrily at her neglect. Shang offered Mulan a hand in her saddle, she gave him a long suffering stare where she sat above him, carefully considering his somber aura that victory had not lifted.   
"You are a hero, Shang," Mulan congratulated. "How do you feel?"   
The General smiled briefly at her recognition, then turned his gaze to the body strewn snow. "When my father gave me that sword, I went looking for the glory," he told her softly. "And when I saw how he died, I realized there was none." there was a sadness in him she had never seen before, he seemed to be studying each corpse as if he wanted to be certain he would not forget the face. "I feel ashamed." Was his final answer.   
Mulan nodded as she forced herself to take in the scene one last time. It was quite a view. Then they both took the reins of their mounts, heading towards the Imperial capitol, leaving the remains of battle behind them

Epilogue   


The victorious party was received with all manner of festivity by the Emperor. A breath taking parade replete with lion dancers and a massive dragon was arranged the very day the soldiers arrived, as well as a banquet to honor the heroes with all due ceremony. Mulan took her place proudly beside Shang during those resplendent affairs. Aside from the usual joy his presence brought her, he was a good source for copying the proper manners and behavior a war hero should display at Court. She attended the functions in fine military dress, and must observe the proper conduct of an estemed warrioar.   
The Emperor had taken the time to thank the pair privately, and when he did so Shang informed him of their marriage plans. Mulan did not quite understand why, but the sage old man appeared particularly thrilled with the news - even though Shang had told her it was the Emperor that had granted permission while the then Captain had watched his secret love ride away. China's ruler delivered his happiness with a fond smile for Mulan and some riddle for Shang about a flower blooming in adversity. Shang nodded, understanding the other man's mysterious words of wisdom, words which for some reason forced Mulan to blush furiously.   
It was a pity Chi Fu had not been there to see the glorious spectacle, but had been sent to another part of the country on the pressing matter of tax collecting.   
After two days of rest and parties, the newly betrothed couple rode to the house where Mulan's family was staying with her father's brother. Fa Zhou welcomed and embraced Shang as a son, who freely gave his soon to be bride the information that her father had had knowledge of the match the first evening he had come for dinner. In fact, that had been his purpose in coming in the first place.   
"Baba," Mulan knelt before her father in her uncle's temple. "I want to marry Shang, but we must live in the Imperial City at his father's house. I do not wish to be away from you and Mama, and Grandma."   
Fa Zhou, who had always been touched by his only daughter's loyalty, smiled at her. "Mulan," he said to her in his deeply regal voice. "You have brought us great honor, you have been a daughter and a son. Li Shang is a fine man who loves you deeply, you must go and have a life of your own now. You have done enough for us for ten lifetimes."   
Mulan bowed her head sadly. "But, Baba, I will miss-"   
His grin grew broader, she was her father's daughter after all. "We have no home, but we will build one, not far from the Imperial City, where the farmland is still good." Lifting her head, Mulan adorned the room with a delighted smile, throwing her arms around her dear father.   
And so, not many days hence, Fa Mulan and the General Li Shang were wed and settled in a most fine manor house in China's capitol. Not only would her family live nearby as soon as their modest farmhouse could be completed, but Yao, Ling and Chien-Po all dwelt not far away as well. Chien-Po had brought his new wife with him to call one afternoon. Mei-La gushed a hundred happy congratulations for Mulan and her husband, whose eyes, she noted, were not quite so solemn any longer. The pair came often, as well as Yao and Ling who complained bitterly about not having a wife, Shang and Chien-Po taunted them with the fact that they had beautiful wives.   
One day only two months after the war had ended, Mulan sat on a stone bench beneath the rich blossoms of a peach tree in her new garden. There was a pond here as well, though not quite the same as the one the Fa garden had possessed, but clear and lovely in it's own right. Shang had returned from the Palace two hours before sundown - peace time duties filled his day with keeping order in the Imperial City - and knew exactly where to find his lovely bride. She had glowed with a particular radiance that afternoon, and being a man of logic, Shang had no trouble guessing the news Mulan would have for him.   
She rose gracefully from the bench to kneel before her husband - something she had never done before and he would be sure to tell her never to do again - bowing her head over her hands. "I am with child," she declared, after the little ceremony.   
Shang knelt down beside her to embrace his wife joyfully.   
Mushu, who now lived in the Li family temple since he was Mulan's guardian after all, heard her statement with the warm and fuzziest feeling inside, and yelled out the window. "I'm not changin' no diapers!" But the pair affected not to hear him.   
"I will pray for a son," she said. "A General should have a fine son that will grow up like him." This brought a frown to Shang's face as he recalled the images of battle that still lived vividly in their collective memory. It was tradition for a son to follow the craft of his father, but had hoped there would be no war for his child to see.   
So he said to his wife. "And I will pray for a daughter, that she might be like you."   
The words struck her so deeply that Mulan wept then and there.   
But as fate had always smiled upon Mulan and Shang, and both were granted their wish. Twins were born to them after the usual span of months, a boy and girl. Their son was proudly called Jian-de, meaning strength and honor, and their daughter was named Mei which mean plum flower. Plum flower because the blossoms of the plum tree bloomed in winter, against the most adverse conditions.   
This is not to say the General Li Shang and his lady lived happily ever after, as anyone who has ever been in love knows this - as Shang and Mulan were closer to reality than any other Disney invented couple before them. But after their precious children grew old enough to let their parents sleep at night, the pair lived happily most of the time. The point is, in being an honored war hero, and in a marriage to a truly mesmerizing man, Mulan faired much better than the woman of her time. And Li Shang, with his courageous and honorable heart, had found a wife of both wit and beauty, and was blessed beyond all glory and wealth.   
  


(C) 2000 Lian-Hua (Qian-Lei) 


End file.
